Yoni Brevi: The Last Generation
by bjen846
Summary: Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and Yoni have a bond that will never be broken. After the titan invasion, their journey as soldiers begin. Can she control her power and protect her friends. Will she ever uncover the truth about her family? (Follows Anime storyline) (Current Arc: Utgard Castle)
1. Chapter 1

Where is he!? Where the hell is he? Hannes was nowhere to be found. He wasn't at his usual table drinking his life away. She needed to find him though.

Yoni's mind was racing. This fight wasn't like the usual ones.

FLASHBACK

Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Yoni. There isn't a day where you wouldn't find them together. And they're attackers knew that.

They met at the river bank. Armin had got groceries from the market, Mikasa and Eren were carrying firewood, and Yoni had some sweets that she made for her friends.

"Armin your hair is getting so long." Yoni walked up and ran her hand through his hair.

"Yeah I know, I need to cut it."

"Why it looks great on you, you look like a model." They all share a laugh. Probably the last one they would share for a while.

"Oi Yoni, do you have any sweets for us?" Eren's eyes were full of excitement.

"Mochiron!" Yoni pulled four slices of pound cake out of the little basket her mother made for her.

Everyone sat down at the riverbank with cake in hand and began an almost daily ritual of talking about their dreams.

"Yoni I could eat your sweets forever," Eren exclaimed.

"Un! How do you get them to taste so good?" Armin was always analyzing something. It could be anything from Yoni's sweets to what's outside the wall.

Yoni looked at Mikasa. As silent as ever. "Do you like the cake Mikasa?"

Mikasa looked at Yoni with her signature blank stare and gave a slight nod.

Yoni smiled softly. She knew to express oneself wasn't Mikasa's strength, so she took whatever she got from her and was grateful.

Eren looked up to the sky with a serious look. "Guys, what do you think is out there?"

"Ah, that reminds me." Armin pulled a book out his messenger bag. It was an encyclopedia. The four kids were shocked. "This is very illegal guys so don't tell anyone about this."

The four looked through the book thoroughly. As though their life depended on it. They saw the oceans, deserts, ice caps. They saw everything the world had to offer and became dissatisfied with what they had. Eren specifically.

"I'm going to be a scout." They all looked at him.

He had that look.

He could have said that he was a penguin with that look and they would believe him.

"Eren why would you do that? I know it's expected of Yoni but you don't have any reason to. Why don't you just join the garrison or military police?" Armin answered.

He was right. Both of Yoni's parents were scouts. Her mother died when she was five, and her father has been on active duty and hasn't been seen for three years. She believes that he is alive, but her faith has been wearing thin these days. Ever since her dad left she decided she would become a scout and find him. Alive.

"I want to see the world Armin. I can't do that if I'm inside the inner walls. And I don't wanna become a drunk like Hannes."

That lightened the mood a little. They could say what they wanted about Hannes but he was there when they needed him. Especially for Yoni.

"What are you guys doing over there?" A new voice entered the environment.

Armin immediately puts his book away and the four of them turn around.

Ugh, not them again. Yoni was tired of these cadet dropouts bothering them. They seemed different this time though. They usually just taunted them from afar, however, this time they were coming up close. Probably to inflict harm. Yoni was on her guard.

The three cadet rejects walk up to them. Confident smiles on their faces. One of them ended the silence. "I thought I asked a question. What are you guys doing over here? This is Rene turf, so get lost."

That explains it. They've fallen in with a gang. This can't be good. The lead gang member turned his focus to Yoni, then to her basket.

"What you got there?" He lunged for her basket. Yoni pulled it away.

"What do you want Brel?" Eren stood up ready for the fight of his life.

"I want the basket." He said simply

He lunged again. He grabbed Yoni by the collar of her shirt and lifted her off her feet. Yoni was shaking with fear. She felt her pants and leg become wet.

Brel exploded with laughter. "I can't believe it. She pissed herself." Eren ran to her but his plan was thwarted by the second stooge. Brel grabbed the basket, emptied it of its contents and pocketed them. "I heard your sweets were the best in the district." He inspected the basket once more then threw it into the river. Yoni's shaking stopped and her eyes widened. Tears rolled down her eyes. The basket her mother made for her, the last thing she had to remember her by was slowly floating down the river. The tears came faster now. Brel ragged her collar to bring her attention back to him. Yoni grabbed his wrist to ease the pain.

"I don't know why you three hang around scum like this." Brel raised his fist to hit her. With her eyes closed with fear, Yoni took a breath and squeezed Brel's wrist in anticipation.

Brel yelled out in pain.

He immediately dropped Yoni and held his hand in pain. "The little bitch broke my wrist!" Brel drop kicked Yoni in the face, sending her flying into a nearby wall. Mikasa and Eren sprung into action. Armin went to go check on Yoni. He lifted her head up and was saddened by what he saw. She was bleeding from a deep gash on her temple. He took a look at the back of her head and found nothing wrong visibly, however, Yoni was barely cognizant.

Armin grabbed her arm to get her attention. "Stay here Yoni I'm going to go get help." Before he could run away Brel grabbed the back of his shirt and started pummeling him with his one good hand.

Yoni struggled to open her eyes. She looked at her friends. Mikasa was holding her own, it wouldn't be long before she overpowers her opponent, however, Eren and Armin weren't doing as well. Yoni looked at them than towards the river. She could still see her basket, she could get it, but her friends probably wouldn't make it that long. She went back and forth in her mind on what to do. This internal dilemma seemed to last for ages until she finally ran to find Hannes.

With tears in her eyes, she thought 'I won't forget you, I promise mom.'

PRESENT TENSE

Where is he? Why isn't he at his usual drinking table. Yoni stopped at the table and asked the other soldiers where he was.

"He's around the corner taking a piss.." he slurred without looking at her. "Woah, what happened to you, looks like your leaking from all over huh?" he looked down at Yoni's wet pants. His drunk friends laughed like it was the funniest thing they ever heard. She quickly ran to the corner and bumped into a large figure. Her vision blurred. This gash on her head was no joke. The thing she bumped into leaned down and touched her head.

"Yoni what happened, why are you bleeding?" she recognized the voice as Hannes. Her father figure ever since he actual father left for active duty.

Yoni got up immediately and pulled Hannes along. "Oji come quick, Brel and his friends are in with the Rene gang now, and they came and started fighting us. They're down by the river!"

Hannes was at a loss for words. Why would those kids pick a fight with those little kids? He looked down at Yoni. A kid he looked at as his own, bleeding from her head profusely. She could barely keep her eyes open but she was running at full speed to lead him to her friends.

They arrived at the scene. Mikasa had taken care of her and Armin's attackers. The three of them were standing off against Brel.

Brel wheeled back his good hand and began to attack, but he was stopped in his track by Hannes. "What is the meaning of this Brel? I hear you've fallen in with a bad crowd. And that you attacked my goddaughter and her friends."

Brel looked less confident. Sure he could take some little kids, but not a squad captain in the Garrison regiment. "uh... Ah… I didn't know she was your goddaughter Hannes Taizhou."

Hannes walked up to Brel with a look as hard as steel and punched him so hard that everyone present was positive that it broke every bone in his face

"You two." Hannes looked back at the two goons that Mikasa had handled. "Take your friend and get out of my sight. It's not hard to wonder why you got kicked off the cadet corps. You wouldn't know honor if it punched you in the face, which it did. I better not see your faces around here again." The defeated gangsters got up and shuffled around Mikasa like scared cats and ran to the friend. When they lifted him up his whole face was bloodied. After they scurried away, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, and Hannes turned their attention to Yoni, who was staring at the river intently. That's when Hannes noticed she wasn't carrying her coveted basket.

"What happened to your basket Yoni?"

She turned around to face him and pointed to the river.

Hannes almost broke down from what he saw. Tears were streaming down from her closed eyes, she was baring her teeth but her eyebrows gave the guise of a soft expression.

"Yoni." Hannes bent down so he was eye to eye with Yoni.

She opened her eyes and the tears came down like waterfalls. "They threw it in the river."

Hannes looked towards the river, he couldn't see it. The rivers speed up rapidly past the canal. That basket was gone, he knew Yoni knew that. It broke his heart. He was there when her then-pregnant mother was making it for her then-unborn child. He was forced to help and made it seem like a bother, but in reality, he was happy to be there. He looked at Yoni with teary eyes and opened his arms. Yoni walked into his arms and nuzzled her face into his neck. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa heard her now muffled sobs and felt sorry for their friend. She really didn't deserve what happened to her.

"Why are people so cruel Oji?"

"I don't know Yoni. It's just how the world is. "That was the best answer he could give. He knew the world hated her for just existing and that there was no comfort he could give her.

"I don't want to live in a world like that." She looked into his eyes. She looked so tired and beaten down.

"Then change it," he said to her. Those were the same words her mother said to him the day she died.

Yoni didn't say anything back, she just put her head back in his neck and closed her eyes. Hannes looked at Yoni's head and remembered that she was still bleeding. He took out a cloth from his pocket and rested it between her head and his neck to keep pressure.

"Eren, Mikasa, Armin lets go to Dr. Yeager. We need to get her head patched up.

On the way back they parted ways with Armin because it was getting late and his grandfather had been expecting those groceries hours ago.

Hannes handed Yoni to Dr. Yeager. "I have rounds until late, so I'll come to check up on her tomorrow morning."

"Ok, I'll inform the orphanage that she'll be staying here tonight."

Hannes watched as The Yeager's took Yoni inside. The only thing on his mind was how horrible a godfather he was. Yoni was literally bleeding from her head while he was somewhere getting drunk with his friends. He needed to clean up his act, for Yoni's sake.

Dr. Yeager went to work immediately. He started to clean the wound which woke Yoni up with a force. She was frightened just for a moment, but then she realized where she was. She looked around. Eren and Mikasa were sitting next to the bed, looking on intently and Dr. Yeager stitched up her gash.

"Gomen Yoni, this is going to leave a big scar." Dr. Yeager cut the stitching thread and looked at his work. "The rest of my tools are in my office in Trost so I had to make do."

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Yeager. Sorry for being a nuisance again."

"Impossible, you keep me sharp Yoni. Never a dull moment when you're around." He laughed as he packed up his inferior tools.

Eren's mother came into the room holding some clothes. "Yoni, I've run a bath for you. Here are some clothes until yours are done the washing. These are Eren's old clothes. I was going to give you some of Mikasa's but you don't look like the type to like dresses. They might be a little big for you, but you can keep them."

"Arigatou Oba san."

She was right. Ever since she was young Yoni abhorred dresses and skirts.

"Eren let's go to the other room and give the girls their privacy." Dr. Yeager led Eren out the room.

Yoni headed to the bathroom and Eren's mother followed. "Take your time ok."

"Ok Oba." Yoni turned around and took off her shirt as Eren's mother closed the door. Mikasa caught a glimpse of her back before the door closed. A small gasp escaped her mouth. She walked over to change the sheets on the bed where Yoni was.

"So many scars." She thought.

After dinner, they started getting ready for bed. Mikasa and Yoni would share a bed for tonight. Eren was upset that he wasn't invited to the sleepover. Yoni sat up in the bed while rubbing her scar.

Mikasa looked over at her and suddenly remembered what she worked on after dinner.

As Yoni felt her stitching she finally realized how big of a scar it would actually leave. "At least I'm alive, I still have to find papa." She thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mikasa shoving a soft cloth in her face.

"What's this?"

Without answering, Mikasa put Yoni's twists up in a quick bun. She moved behind her and tied the cloth around her forehead to cover her scar. She then got off the bed to get some extra cover for them to share, it was going to be extra cold tonight. Yoni was speechless and confused until she remembered Mikasa's scarf that she got from Eren. She was doing the same thing for her that Eren did for her. She was so grateful that she could cry. Yoni's was interrupted again by Mikasa. She placed the sheets on the bed and looked at Yoni, indicating that she needed help making the bed.

In the bed, they were facing away from each other. The pounding in Yoni's head subsided enough for her to fall asleep. Until Mikasa muttered something.

"Where are those scars on your back from Yoni?"

A small silence ensued. Yoni let out a breath.

"They're from the sisters at the orphanage."

"Why do they do that to you?"

"I don't know. That's just how it is."

"Does Hannes know?"

"If Hannes knew he would shut the orphanage down. The other kids don't have anywhere else to go. The sisters don't hit them, only me. It would be selfish of me to take away their home."

Yoni heard ruffling in the bed then felt Mikasa's chest on her back and her hands wrapped around her. Yoni felt drips on her neck. Her eyes widened at her realization.

Mikasa was crying.

"You shouldn't have to live like that."

"Oi, you haven't had it easy either Mikasa. Don't worry about me, as long as I have you guys I'll be fine. I promise."

"I promise we'll always be here."

No response was necessary. They fell asleep snuggled together to keep warm on that cold night, totally unaware of what they would face tomorrow.


	2. The Invasion

Eren's mother is always the first to wake up. She made her rounds around the house. Dr. Yeager was still sound asleep in their bed. She loved it when he took breaks, his days could become so busy. Next was Eren's room. Eren slept in his usual unkempt way. Sheets were halfway on the floor, his mouth was gaping and there was a pool of drool on his pillow. She couldn't help but laugh when she realized that this was the real reason Mikasa didn't invite him to the sleepover. Eren's mother headed in the living room area where Mikasa and Yoni were sleeping. Her heart warmed at the sight of them. Yoni was curled up into a ball with Mikasa doing the same thing while cuddling Yoni. Only then did Eren's mother realize how similar the girls were.

They both lost their parents.

Mikasa always took on the protector role, and she did it well.

Carla started preparing breakfast. Eggs and Bacon. She heard rustling in the bed behind her. She turned around to Mikasa sitting straight up in the bed. She was always the first one to get up. Before getting out of bed she yawned and stretched like a madwoman Carla cherished this. Sometimes she forgets that Mikasa is a child, so it's nice to see her act like one for once. Mikasa walked over and immediately started setting the table. She was happy that Mikasa was around, it was nice to have a girl around. Mikasa was the daughter she never had. However, her spirits dampened when she thought of the circumstances that brought Mikasa to her. To lose her parents at such an early age, and in such a manner broke her heart.

A door squeaked open behind then. Carla looked and saw her favorite boys walking groggily into the dining room. Eren still had remnants of drool on his face, to which Mikasa gave a disgusted look. Grisha's mind was ready for the day, however, his body wasn't.

Carla looked over to Yoni, she was sleeping so soundly even with all this ruckus. She rolled over to the side where Mikasa was as if she was reaching for her. When she found nothing her eyes shot open in a slight panic, which was quickly soothed by the sight of the Yeager family.

"Am I the last to get up?" Yoni sat up then almost immediately regretted it. A sharp pain permeated from her wound to the rest of her head.

Dr. Yeager came over to check the stitches. He undid the headband that Mikasa had given her to take a look. His face went pale. "There's nothing here."

"Eh? Tou san Are your glasses on, cause that gash was huge. There's no way that it could just disappear." Eren walked up next to his father to take a look. He was dumbfounded. Eren looked up at his father. "How can it be gone tou san?

Dr. Yeager did his best to hide that ghostly look on his face when he turned around. "I'm sure everything is fine. I'll be going on that business trip I was talking about today. I'll be gone a couple of days, but when I get back I have something to show you three."

The three children looked surprised.

"What are you gonna show us?" Eren asked.

"The Basement." With that sentiment, Dr. Yeager walked out the door.

The three children relished at this. Dr. Yeager's coveted basement that no one was allowed to go near was finally going to be revealed to them.

Their thoughts were railroaded at the sound of Mrs. Yeager's voice.

"Mina, let's eat."

Before Yoni went to the table she put back on her headband. Mikasa walked over confused.

"Why are you still wearing that, your scar is gone?"

"Why do still wear that scarf even when its's warm outside?" Mikasa didn't need to answer, the blush on her face gave her away. "You wear it because someone special gave it to you. I'm doing the same thing." Yoni gave Mikasa the biggest smile she could. Mikasa smiled at her back, but it was much smaller in scale. "Plus it's stylish." Yoni undid her top bun and let her twists fall to her shoulders. There was a slight blush on Mikasa's face before she quickly turned away and went to the table. Yoni didn't read too much into it. Just Mikasa being Mikasa.

After breakfast, they heard a knock on the door. Carla opened it and saw section captain Hannes. He was finished with morning rounds and came to check on Yoni. He wasn't surprised when he found out that she was perfectly fine and that her wound was gone completely. Her parents were the same. If they weren't fatally injured they would heal up completely form just one night's rest. That was the power they possessed. Hannes concluded that Yoni had awakened her generation. He would have to explain everything to her or she could become a danger to herself and others.

Yoni ran up to him and gave him a hug like no other. "Oji chan how were rounds?"

"They were excellent not a thing out of place."

"I would expect nothing less from my godfather." Yoni started running circles around Hannes. "What are we doing today Oji chan?"

This sight threw him back to the past when he and Yoni's mother were little. Lillete used to do the same thing when she was excited. She would run around until she got what she wanted. Hannes laughed internally. Of all the things to inherit from her mother, she got her unwavering energy.

"Well, it looks like it's about time for a retwist Yoni." Yoni's face immediately went sour. "Don't give me that look. You need to comb it or it'll get knotted.

Thanks to Lillete, Hannes knew the ins and outs of black hair. It was due to her paranoia about who would comb her child's hair when she was outside the walls. And the responsibility landed on Hannes. Back when he was learning from his best friend how to braid, twist and cornrow, he looked at it as a hassle and unnecessary. Now it's a way for him to bond with his goddaughter.

"After you're done with your chores meet me at the usual spot. Ok." Yoni didn't respond. "OK?" He asked again. This time Yoni nodded her head with an upset look on her face.

Hannes left the Yeager residence. Carla regained their attention by pulling out the wood carriers. "You two know the drill, get some firewood for tonight ok." She bent down and kissed them both on the forehead.

"What do you want me to do Oba-san?" Yoni asked

"Ah, that reminds me." Carla reached under the table and pulled out the small basket she worked on last night after everyone went to sleep. She handed the basket to Yoni. "Mikasa told me what happened yesterday at the river. I know it's not the same as the one your mother made for you but...I would love if you would pick some flowers for me."

Yoni's eyes were brimming with happiness and gratitude. She gave her godmother the sweetest hug she would ever get. "Of course Oba San, I'll pick you the most beautiful flowers in all of Shingashina!"

And with that, they were off.

The chores went by like a breeze. Mikasa picked out all of the wood herself, as usual. Eren was sitting around playing with a dandelion he took from Yoni's basket secretly. Yoni already had her basket full. She was in high spirits. She loved and was loved by many people. What more could an 'orphan' ask for? On their way to Hannes, they met up with Armin. He had his messenger bag as usual.

When they arrived, Hannes had everything set up. He had the grease, leave-in conditioner, parting, and detangling combs. Yoni was grateful, Hannes did all of this for her, she was happy that she got to spend time with him.

While salon time was in session, Eren was taking shots at the rest of the drunk Garrison soldiers and how they were useless. They didn't take him seriously though. The rest of the children were talking about what they would be when they were grown up. Eren said the scout regiment. Again no one took him seriously. Armin said he would like to be a teacher. Mikasa said she would go wherever Eren goes. Yoni said the scout regiment. Eren scoffed at her.

"How do you think you can make in the scout regiment when you peed your pants for the likes of Brel?"

"Shut up Eren," Hannes said. "I'm sure in a fight Yoni would kick your ass." The rest of the soldiers laughed at this which caused Eren to get a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Yoni I've had this question in the back of my mind since yesterday." Armin chimed. "How did you break Brel's hand so easily? Mikasa didn't even break any bones."

"I don't know, all I know is that I was scared out of my mind. But it won't happen again."

Hannes looked down at Yoni. 'broke his wrist huh?' He thought.

"All finished Yoni." Hannes took a step back and admired his work. "Wow, I outdo myself don't' I."

Yoni hopped off the stool and played with her brand new twists in her hand. "Thanks, Oji chan, you're the best." She gave him a hugging fit for a king and walked over to Mikasa who was holding her headband for her. She put her headband on and presented a smile that brightened the day of everyone who saw it.

"Come on guys we have to get everything back to ka san, we've been here long enough." Eren picked himself off the ground. "Armin you should come too, we're having your favorite for lunch.

BOOOM!

The air became still and filled with smoke. After the smoke settled a gargantuan shadow appeared in their vision. Collectively, the whole of Shinganshina looked up.

A gigantic head peered over the wall and...just looked at them. Screams and panic ensued. Everyone began running towards the inner wall.

They haven't been seen for a century.

The titans have returned.


	3. The Invasion part 2

Hannes stood up with a fierceness. " All member of Squad Hannes, head to the breached part of the wall and start evacuating all non-combatants." The rest of his squad tried their best to sober up and ran to go get suited up. Hannes turned down to the four kids, they were shell-shocked. Their little bodies were trembling. Hannes snapped them out of it. "You guys head to the interior gate as soon as you can, make sure not to get trampled. Stick together if you can." Only Mikasa was listening, the other three had their eyes locked on the titans coming through the breach. Hannes got down in front of them to get their attention.

"Listen." Their wide eyes shifted slowly to Hannes. "If you don't do what I say, you will die. Being distracted is fatal. Get to the interior gate at any means necessary." He went over to Yoni and squeezed her in a tight embrace. Hannes stood up and gave the children a small nod before using his ODM gear to leave the scene.

Eren suddenly realized that the breach was in the same direction of his house. "Ka san!" Eren immediately took off running in the direction of his house. Mikasa and Yoni followed him. Armin screamed at them to follow Hannes' instructions, but his words fell upon deaf ears.

As they rounded the corner to Eren's house a huge boulder had invaded the area, along with debris from nearby houses. They approached a leveled area where the Yeager residence once stood.

"Ka san!" Eren called out for his mother but there was no answer. He did it three more times before some rubble where the front door once stood started to move.

It was Carla! She was still alive!

The three children immediately went to work digging her out. Carla couldn't feel her legs, she knew they were broken. Even if they managed to get her out she wouldn't be able to run. Eren, Mikasa and Yoni were hard at work until Carla told them to stop.

"You three need to escape. Even if you get me out I won't be able to run. We'll all--" She was interrupted by heavy footsteps from around the corner. All of them looked up and saw a titan, maybe ten meters standing before them with an unholy smile.

Nobody moved a muscle.

"Oi! You three need to leave now or we'll all die."

"Ka san no we're all leaving together." Eren went back to digging out his other more frantically now.

The titan took a step closer to the humans,'

"Eren you need to listen to me. I can't run, I'm going to die here. You and your friends need to escape and live." Tears stained her cheeks as her son gradually stopped moving. The others eventually came to a stop. Eren looked at his mother probably for the last time with watery eyes. He said his goodbyes. Eren grabbed his two friends by the hand and made a break for it.

Yoni was beyond terrified, she took a look behind her. The titan was squatting down behind Eren's mother. Carla screamed when the titan grabbed her.

At this moment something changed in Yoni. It was as if her fear was intensified so much that it turned to courage.

Yoni let go of Eren's hand and made a dash for Carla. Her left foot left a small crater in the ground after she took off running. Eren called out to her but to no avail.

At this point Hannes had arrived on the scene thx to Armin's instructions. He saw Mikasa and Eren standing still looking backwards. He grabbed them in his arms and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

"Where's Yoni."

Both children pointed in the direction of the 10 meter titan.

Hannes was at a loss for words at what he saw. Yoni sprinting towards the titan with small craters in her wake. The Titan had Carla in his hands ready to eat when Yoni appeared in his vision. He looked down at her with a devilish smile while he raised his other hand to go and grab her. Before his hand could reach her his left eye exploded.

Everyone was stunned.

Yoni was standing as if she had just finished throwing something.

Hannes was frozen. Had Yoni threw that, there was no way anything could be thrown that fast and hard by a kid.

The titan yelled in agony and released Carla from his grasp. A scream Hannes knew would attract more titans. Yoni jumped for her leaving a much larger crater. She landed with Carla in hand and wasted no time in running away.

Two more soldiers came on the scene and engaged the titan. They were no match for it though, all those years of siting and getting drunk were starting to catch up with them. It took no time at all before the titan made a meal of them. His attention returned to the little girl and woman. The titan began contorting its body in horrifying positions before it took off at a speed almost matching Yoni's. The pounding of his feet caused the ground to ripple making Yoni trip and fall. The titan was upon them in a matter of seconds. His hand came down at them with a swiftness. Hannes was only able to watch as his god daughter was about to get eaten. At the last moment Carla pushed her away and was swiped up by the titan. The titan stood up with Carla once again in her grasp and made a swift meal of her.

Yoni was still with shock. Her mother figure was just eaten alive in front of her. The titan then turned around and walked away as if it decided Yoni was too much of a hassle to deal with. Yoni came back to reality when Hannes pulled her onto his back. Although not as fast as Yoni, he sprinted for the interior gate.

Hannes put the children on an evacuation boat. He looked at their heartbroken faces and tried his best not to look defeated. He just wanted to hug them forever and tell them things were going to be ok. But wasn't that good at lying. No amount of persuasion could convince these kids that things were ok, not after what they just witnessed. Hannes turned around to head back to the battlefield to continue evacuating citizens when he felt a small tug on his jacket cuff.

Yoni stared up at him with eyes like overflowing pools. "Please don't die Oji chan, I don't think I could take it."

He knelt down and put a hand on her head. "I'll try my best. I'll meet up with you guys inside wall Rose, be safe until then." He gave yoni a kiss on her forehead and ran off the boat.

Yoni sat in the boat next to Armin who they met on there, Mikasa and Eren. She couldn't even look Eren in the eyes. If only she had been faster they would have gotten away.

She dropped her head low and sobbed. "Gomenasai Eren, Mikasa. I almost had her."

He placed a soft hand on her shoulder causing Yoni to look up. "You tried Yoni, that's all I could ever ask. I never knew you could be so brave. You'll make a great scout. And I'm going be there with you. We're going to kill every titan who ever set foot in Shingashina, we're going to kill every titan there is." He had that look again. Yoni believed every word he said.

Mikasa put a hand her on her shoulder signifying she was standing with them. Armin was still on the fence but that was to be expected, not everyone was them, some people wanted to get as far away from the titans as they could.

The boat jerked forward. They made their way into the tunnel, Yoni looked over and saw that spot where they had the confrontation with Brel just a day ago. She would do anything to go back to how things were. She took a quick glance and saw something floating in the water back into Shingashina.

Her basket. The one her mother made her.

Yoni closed her eyes in defeat. This world never ceased to show her how cruel it could be.


	4. The Aftermath

"What now?" Armin was pacing back and forth in the little corner that they commandeered. "What do we do now?"

"We survive." Those were the first words Mikasa has said since they got of the boat. "The only thing we can do is survive. That's what Eren's mother would have wanted."

Eren swung his head down low. When he got off the boat all that energy he had about killing titans left him immediately. As if he was struck with the reality of the situation.

"How are we going to do that?" He asked.

Mikasa walked over and stuffed a loaf of bread in his mouth. "Eat."

Yoni couldn't hold back laughter at the sight of Eren with half a loaf of bread hanging out his mouth. The other three felt a slight wave of happiness. Yoni's smile was a kind of necessity for them. It brought an unspoken sense of comfort, which they needed now more than ever.

The thing tugging at the back of Eren's mind now urged its way to the front.

"Oi Yoni, how did you do all that back there. You know the running the jumping and throwing. Have you always been that strong?"

A new but familiar voice entered the fray. "No. She hasn't."

Hannes! He was ok.

Yoni ran and jumped into her godfather's arms. The warm embrace lasted until Hannes winced in pain.

Yoni perked up. "What's wrong are you hurt?"

"It's nothing serious, I got hit with a rock. I think one of my ribs are broken."

"Did evacuate everyone?" Armin asked

"Hai, everyone that was still alive. Seventy five percent the population in Shingashina died today." That really dampened the mood. "Now we have to look to the future. The future of humanity, we need to defeat the titans."

"How do we do that we're just kids?" Armin scratched his head.

"You aren't kids anymore, the titans made sure of that. Its time to grow up."

"Oi weren't you going to tell us about Yoni?" Eren had had enough of the lecture.

"Yeah." A gloomy look came over his face as her turned to face Yoni. "It's time to tell you about your parents."

Yoni didn't know how to feel. What else didn't she know about them. She thought Hannes had told her everything.

"Ahh, well I guess there's no reason to sugarcoat things. Yoni there is reason that you don't see any other black people around. You have abilities. Abilities that surpass that of a normal human. Depending on the person the power can manifest into anything. From the looks of things you have enhanced strength. This power is called generation. Commonly found in those of African descent. When you learn to control it, it can be a great asset to you. But left unchecked you can cause just as much damage as a titan. Your parents were able to control theirs, that made them top prospects for the scout regiment. In fact, your family has been in the scouts for generations. Its seems like your family are the only one able to control their generation."

"You mean, there are other people like me?"

"There were, but no one has any black people other than your family, in nearly 100 years. No one knows where they all went. But its generally believed because of the power of generation that people of African descent are dangerous. That's most likely why Yoni isn't treated very well."

The four of them thought back just a day before to their altercation with Brel. He had called her scum. They also remembered that Yoni would get dirty looks when they would walk around town but surprisingly they never looked any deeper into it.

Mikasa thought about those scars that she saw on her back.

Those two were more similar than they knew. The Ackermanns and Orientals were also ostracized by the government. Mikasa would sometimes feel surges of power swelling up in her, but it would result in enhanced fighting skill.

"Wait so are you saying that Yoni's family is only allowed to live if they can control their generation and if they join the military? Armin asked

"Yeah."

"Where did they come from, do we know how they get their powers?" Armin was piling on the questions.

"Oi, I just told you all I know. Yoni, if the titan invasion hadn't happened when became old enough some soldiers would come for you and put you in the cadet corp. You wouldn't have had a choice."

Yoni was looking off into nowhere, shell shocked from what she just heard. She had powers? Is that how she cracked Brel's wrist and exploded that Titan's eye? What was happening and why has it just started now.

"Now we need to talk about what's next. There's no way that wall rose can support this many refugees, they've already started culling the herd. They sent out half of the refugees to go take back wall Maria but its unlikely that they'll make it back."

Armin broke down, his grandfather was one of those sent out on that mission. He had his suspicions that it was a suicide mission, but hearing it from someone with authority broke him.

"When you guys are old are you going to sign up? They all nodded without hesitation. Armin wasn't on the fence anymore. Not after what happened to his grandfather.

Hannes gave a slight smile. He was glad to know that these kids wouldn't give up so easily. The future was bright for them. "Hey I have some dried meat stored in my locker over in the barracks, I'll share with you guys if you want." the smiles immediately returned to their faces, even Mikasa had a smile. They all ran over to his locker but Hannes stopped Yoni. He looked deep into her eyes and gripped her shoulders firmly.

"Yoni, this is very important. While your in training don't do your best, don't show off, don't do anything that will make you stand out."

Yoni was puzzled, why wouldn't she do her best?"

"If the government deems you to powerful, they'll kill you. That's what they did to your mother." Tears were welling up in his eyes. "Promise me."

Yoni replied with a questioning stare.

"Oi, promise me!" Hannes gripped her shoulders tighter producing a wince from the young girl. "Gomen Yomi, please listen to what I'm telling you."

"Hai Oji."

Hannes expression softened as he wiped his eyes. "Ok Yo, lets go get some meat." Hannes picked her up and put her over his shoulders.

Yoni tried to relax but it was virtually impossible now. After all the information that laid on her it would be awhile before she would be able to relax again.

TWO YEARS LATER

Yoni stood at attention next to faces old and new. Mikasa, Eren and Armin were there with her. Yoni marveled at how much they had grown up since that day in Shingashina. They weren't those scared little kids anymore. While the drill instructor was yelling at the other recruits Yoni thought about Hannes. She hadn't seen him since that day he laid all that information on them. She worried about him. His promotion means he would be more involved in operations to retake wall Maria.

The drill instructor made his way to Yoni. He had passed Eren and Mikasa but he stopped in front of Yoni for some reason.

"WHATS YOUR NAME RECRUIT?"

"Yoni Brevi SIR!"

He raised his left eyebrow. Brevi? He had a rercuit named Brevi a while ago. So Lilete had a daughter?

"OK BREVI, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IN MY 104TH CADET CORP?"

"I'm here to kill the titans that took my home from me SIR!"

"REALLY? IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE YOU CAN KILL ANYTHING, NOT WITH THOSE STRINGY ARMS. DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME 50 RECRUIT!"

Yoni dropped.

He could see her mother in her face, his top student. Her death weighed heavily on his conscience. Maybe if he didn't baby her as much, she would still—

There's no time for any of that. Yoni would survive, he would make sure of it.


	5. Training

Yoni didn't expect the other cadets to be friendly to her, but she also didn't expect them to be complete assholes. There were a few that were fine to her, but the rest of them were completely intolerable. They probably held the same sentiments about black people like the rest of the population. Thanks to Mikasa they weren't as bad as they could be. Being friends with the number one in the class has its perks.

Yoni blocked them out of her mind and focused on stretching out her sore muscles. Its been one year since they joined the training corp, and the training has gotten progressively harder.

Today was a two mile run followed by a ruck march on an unforgiving trail. The drill insrtuctor didn't make it any easier for her. He made her stay in front of the pack in the run and added extra weight into her sack. She knew tomorrow wouldn't be any easier.

Yoni wasn't actually supposed to be stretching right now. She was supposed to be sparring but everyone she knew had a partner and no one else would spar with her.

She wasn't the only one to took notice of this.

"CADET BREVI!"

Yoni stood at attention immediately along with everyone else in the training ground. Drill instructor Shadis got into Yoni's face.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING CADET?"

"Stretching sir!"

"WELL I CAN SEE THAT. MY QUESTION IS WHY?"

"Cause I don't have partner sir."

Thrity seconds of silence pass while drill instructor Shadis thought back to when Yoni's mother was in training. No one else would work with her either. So her and the drill instructor sparred. He wondered if that was the way to go here. Yoni is nowhere near her mother's level yet but she had the potential. How much though. 'enough thinking' he told himself. He would gauge her potential right now.

With the thirty seconds now over Instructor Shadis took a step back and went into his fighting stance.

Murmurs from the crowd erupted. Eren, Mikasa, Armin pushed their way to front with worry in their eyes.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER CADET, YOU SCARED YOU INJURE ME?"

"Quite the opposite sir, I don't think this is fair fight."

"YOU THINK WHEN YOU FIGHT THE TITANS IT'S GOING TO BE A FAIR FIGHT? THEY CAN LITERALLY PICK YOU UP AND EAT YOU. THAT DOESN'T SOUND FAIR TO ME. NOW FIGHT!"

The instructor launched a quick Jab at Yoni. Yoni felt the wind of the punch tickle her scalp as she ducked it. The crowd made slight gasp.

Yoni knew there was no way to beat him. He was the last commander of the scout regiment for a reason. Yoni was kicked out of her thoughts by the sight a size eleven foot coming straight for her head. She couldn't dodge it in time so she blocked it with her forearms. Despite the power of her generation, Yoni herself was not physically strong, so the kickback knocked her off balance. Shadis took advantage and charged forward with a barrage of punches. Yoni was able to dodge every other punch. The punches she didn't dodge landed on her face chest and stomach. The stomach punch knocked the wind out of her and rendered her distracted. Shadis came down hard with a two hand overhead strike. Yoni put up an overhead X block hoping that it would equally distribute the force coming down on her.

For the first time in the fight she calculated right.

The force of the strike brought her to her knees, however the block held strong. Her small victory was short lived. Shadis came with a low roundhouse kick that knocked yoni three feet to the right and on her back.

Shadis walked up and peered over her. "You'll make excellent titan fodder, I wonder if the Titans like dark meat."

Saying Yoni was mad would be an understatement, but she managed to keep her emotions in check. Shadis was trying to psych her out and cause her to make even more mistakes.

With no emotion on her face, Yoni stood up and got in her fighting stance and waited for him to attack.

Shadis was dumbfounded. That provoking tactic worked really well on her mother. When he said things to Lilete, she went into a frenzy. However Yoni showed signs of disgruntlement. Where she got her temperament from Shadis didn't know.

Shadis ran up with a wild roundhouse punch with his right hand. Yoni saw the opening and knew she would have to take advantage, but she had to wait for the right moment. If the misread this, she wouldn't get another chance.

Yoni waited until the moment when the punch was right on her. At that moment she ducked and pivoted on her right foot in the opposite direction the punch was coming to get behind him. Once there she grabbed him from behind in a bear hug and swept his feet out from under him.

The rest of the cadets where stone cold silent. They couldn't believe what they were looking at. Their scary ass drill instructor on his stomach with his face in the dirt and his hands in a lock.

Yoni looked over to her friends. The looks of worry were still on their face. Did they know something she didn't, could they see something she couldn't?

She got her answer.

Yoni quickly felt her body leaning to one side with a hand on her right wrist. Shadis had easily gotten out her hold and was now in control.

Yoni on her knees with her right wrist in a weird position. Shadis' grip was causing her great pain, she went to great lengths to keep a straight face.

"CADETS, THIS IS WHY YOU NEVER TAKE YOU EYES OF AN OPPONENT, IF YOU DO…YOU'LL BECOME TITAN FODDER." On the last part he got deep into Yonis face. "THERE'S ALWAYS A CONSEQUENCE FOR YOUR ACTIONS."

Shadis started squeezing Yoni's wrist. More and more it became increasingly difficult for Yoni to remain calm and collected. Why was he squeezing so hard? Yoni started squirming on her knees to try and get some relief but the pain stayed the same.

Shadis squeezed harder, soliciting and grunt from Yoni. She tried to stand on her feet, but was sent back down from the excruciating pain of Shadis squeezing even harder.

Mikasa realized what was happening and charged forward. Jean held and arm out stopping her. "Don't interfere, you'll make it worse for her."

Shadis kept squeezing and squeezing until--

SNAP.

Yoni's screamed echoed through the training grounds. It caused onlookers to avert their eyes. Armin and Eren averted their eyes too, agonizing at the fact that they couldn't help their friend. Mikasa had a face of pure anger, but she knew better than to cause a scene.

Yoni was writhing in pain, Shadis still had a grip on her wrist and showed no signs letting go.

Drill instructor Shadis turned around to his cadets."UNDERSTAND THIS CADETS, EVEN A MOMENTARY LAPSE IN JUDGEMENT WILL RESULT IN YOUR DEATH."

"AAAAAAAGH!" Yoni grabbed some dirt in free hand and smushed into Shadis' face. Thinking that he was distracted she came at him with a left roundhouse kick.

Shadis' battle experience over the years has rendered him completely calm even in a state of blindness. He read her moves to the T. He caught her roundhouse kick in his hand and proceeded to spin Yoni in circles until he threw her into a punching post. She hit the post with a hard thud.

Yoni was out cold.

Shadis proceeded to clean his face and walk towards his office. "Take her to the infirmary, and everyone else, enjoy dinner and sleep well. Tomorrow's gonna be a bitch."

Mikasa Armin and Eren ran over to her while the others went to dinner. Some lingered but figured it would be useless for them to just stand around and went into the dining hall.

The three took a look at their beaten friend. She had a bruise on her cheek, her right pants leg was ripped and spotted with blood. And her broken wrist."

Eren was exasperated. "Why didn't she use her generation? That would been an easy win."

"Keep your voice down Eren." Mikasa shot back. "She hasn't used her generation since the titan invasion. And don't you remember what Hannes told her. If she stands out too much she'll be killed."

"And you don't this is making her stick out more? She's constantly getting picked on by that guy for no reason. It makes me sick." Eren picked Yoni up and carried her on his back. And started walking towards the infirmary.

Armin decided to put his two cents in. "If she had used her generation she probably would have killed him. And that definitely wouldn't have helped her situation. She can't control it."

"She was able to control it that day." Eren retorted. "Why not now?"

"We have to take into consideration that there was a lot going on that day. She was hopped up on adrenaline and was probably scared for her life back then. She probably had no idea what she was doing, she was most likely entirely emotionally driven."

The three of them ruminated on that as they walked to the infirmary, unaware that their whole conversation had been overheard. Annie Leonhart walked back into the dining hall after hearing all she needed to.

Shadis sat in office, thinking on the events that had transpired. Had he gone to far. 'Nah' Lilete went threw way worse and came through it. Yoni would be no different. He went into his shirt pocket and pulled out smushed half potato that he got from Sasha Braus. He couldn't help but let go a laugh. This class was truly one of a kind.

ONE DAY LATER.

Yoni woke up in a bed in the infirmary. She immediately recalled why she was there and checked her wrist.

Fully healed.

With that information she inferred that at least 8 hours had passed, considering that's how long it took for her gash to heal.

She got up and spoke to the nurse to get clarification.

"Goodnight, do you know how long I've been out?"

"You slept a whole day. First time I've ever seen someone sleep that long."

"You guys just let cadets sleep for days and miss training?"

"Drill instructor insisted that you take all the rest you need."

Shadis was being nice? Just thinking about a concept such as that made her head combust.

"Well it seems like your fine, so you can head over to the dining hall to catch some dinner before lights out." the nurse showed her to her civilian clothes and then to the door.

When Yoni walked into the dining hall, everything inside stopped. The chattering, flirting, screaming and laughing. Everyone's attention turned to the girl who was able to best their drill instructor. Some people looked at her with smiles and admiration, but the majority of the dining hall looked at her with contempt. She went to where she felt the most welcome. With her three best friends and some new friends. Annie, Reiner, Bertolt, Ymir, Krista, Sasha, Connie, and John. These were the only cadets who didn't treat her as a burden or looked at her like she had a foot sticking out the side of her head.

Mikasa moved over so Yoni could take a seat. No one said a word, everyone in the dining hall was just watching her eat.

Yoni asked her table a question. "Is there something wrong guys?"

"Um no, we just wanted to know if your wrist is ok." Krista's ridiculously blue eyes bored into Yoni's, making her lose her train of thought. Mikasa elbowed her to bring her back.

"Uh yeah its fine, the nurse said so."

"Oi I think Krista is asking because you don't have cast on." Ymir said with a slight glare in her eye.

Panic struck Yoni like a lighting bolt. How could she overlook such a thing? Her brain wasn't working. She looked over to Armin for help and he delivered.

"She probably took off as to not draw any unwanted attention from the instructors. Right Yoni?"

"Ah-- yes yes, I took it off."

Ymir didn't look the slightest bit convinced but she let it go.

"You really held your own against Sarge today." Connie didn't even wait till he swallowed his food to talk. "I bet not even Mikasa could have done that."

"Probably, considering I learned it from Mikasa."

Reiner burst out laughing and slapped Connie's back with a force. "Wrong again, drink up buddy."

"What are they doing?" Yoni asked.

"Connie thinks that he's as smart as Armin, so to prove it he's been making baseless assumption all night. Whenever he gets one wrong he has to drink Reiner's concoction. He hasn't gotten a single one right." Annie sipped her iced tea. "So the Sarge really has it out for you huh?

"I don't know what it's about, I try my best not to stick out but I guess that's impossible since I'm the only person of African descent in this Corps. But I don't know. I guess I just rub him the wrong way. I have that effect on people."

A new voice interrupted her self deprecations session.

"Serves you right. You have no business here. Coming here and parading around like you're a soldier. You belong where the rest of your kind is. In the ground."

Eren and Mikasa got up, ready to swing. Yoni was able to calm them down before anything serious happened. Yoni turned around to address this person's grievance against her.

"Why do you think this way?"

"My father used to tell me stories about your kind. He said they were rapists, thieves, and murderers and that's why the government hunted them down and killed them all. It seems like they missed a spot though." The cadet threw his drink on Yoni.

The cold drink did nothing to cool her anger. She decided she would handle this civilly.

She slowly stood and look the cadet in his eyes. "It's funny u say that cause I remember seeing a man that looked just like you in when I was younger. He used to come to the orphanage and steal children while they were sleeping and sell them into slavery. He once stole the girl that was sleeping right next to me. I also see men that look like you rape and kill one of the sisters from my orphanage too, and he made all the little kids watch. I've seen men that look like steal food from old women and pummel them when they try to resist. What do you think the government should do about your people? Do you think they should be eradicated as well? When I first saw I didn't think you were anything other than a cadet, yet when you first saw me you thought I was better off dead."

"A dead African is a good African. As my dad always says."

"Well you dad is an asshole."

This riled him up but Yoni didn't care. She'd had enough of being treated terribly because of something she couldn't control or change. Either she stood up for herself now or she would keep getting stomped on.

The cadet threw a punch and her. Yoni felt a rush of blood circulating through her body. Yoni put her palm up against the punch subconsciously.

"What? Why am I doing this, this won't stop a punch." she thought.

She miscalculated.

The punch was stopped dead in its tracks. The cadet probably would have thrown another if he hadnt been racked with pain. He dropped the ground holding his hand. Yoni didn't feel the tiniest bit of regret until she looked and saw Drill Sarge standing in the door.

"BREVI! OUTSIDE NOW!"

It was a little chilly outside tonight. Yoni was surprised she was able to think about the weather, usually when she alone with Sarge he would yelling at the tip of his lungs. Not tonight.

Shadis started walking. "Follow me."

Against her better judgement, Yoni didn't ask any questions. It was only when the started heading underground did Yoni start questioning what was going on. She asked questions but he didn't answer.

They arrived, at least that's what Yoni thought. But the place didn't look like much. Not until he turned on the lights. It was basically an underground bunker

Shadis turned to face his young pupil. "Here is where we'll begin your generation training."

Yoni look like a deer in headlights. He knew about generation? How much did he know.

"I'll explain everything later. First things first you need to get stronger. You couldn't even withstand my weakest attacks. How do you think you can stand up to a titan?"

Shidas walked over to a door and opened it to show as fully functional weight room. Next they waked to a large space, most likely a training ground.

"This is where I trained your mother."

All sorts of questions popped into her head but she resisted the urge.

"Everyday after dinner We'll come down here and make sure you don't become titan fodder. Now let's see how much you can bench press."

"Probably not much sir I can barely lift my rifle."

"Yeah, I figured as much."


	6. New Bonds

Yoni finished her dinner and walked down to her now favorite place, the training bunker. It had been six months since she started her secret training with Shadis. She had grown mentally and physically. Thanks to Shadis her soldier abilities were top notch, I mean they were no near Mikasa's but they were better then they were before. The weight training helped with that fact as well. She had gotten really strong in a short amount of time. She was now strong enough to give Reiner a fair fight. Shadis didn't let her revel in this though. He made it clear that she still had a long road ahead of her. Gaining control of her generation was another story. She had made little to no headway. The only time she was able activate it was when Shadis shot cannons at her. Hopefully tonight is the night that she'll be able to activate it without relying on Shadis giving her a near death experience.

She arrived at the bunker with Shadis waiting for her in a chair. He motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him.

"Maybe we've been going about this the wrong way. Maybe we need to take a more intellectual route to this."

"Yeah, I would appreciate less of almost dying from cannon balls."

Shadis gave a small laugh. The last six months with Yoni had really brought out his soft side, her mother had that same effect on him. Of course he didn't show this in front of the other cadets. He still picked on her just as badly, but Yoni knew it was coming from a good place.

"So let's try and break this down." Shadis scooted his chair closer to Yoni's. "What do you feel when I shoot a cannon ball at you?"

"Terrified." she shot back.

"Are there any other things you feel when you use your generation?"

"I also feel a huge rush of circulating blood in my body. But I can't really control what I feel so how does this help."

"Unlike your mother, your generation can be turned on and off. So that means there's a trigger. I'm guessing that trigger is your feelings and emotions."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Well you said that whenever you were able to use your generation you were scared. So the feeling that triggered your generation all those times was fear."

"Well that time in the dining hall when that racist cadet stepped to me, I wasn't scared at all. I was mad. And my body moved subconsciously, I didn't have any control. When I triggered my generation with fear, I had some control over myself."

"So you aren't able to control any other feelings, except for fear. Why is that?"

"Well it probably because when I feel angry or anything else I usually repress it."

"Why?"

"Because the best way to survive in this world when you're alone is to fear everything and trust nothing. Fear is a natural thing for me, those other things require a lot of thought and emotional processing which I don't have time for. The only times when I'm happy are when I'm with my friends and Oji. But when I'm alone…"

"It sounds like you need to talk to someone Yoni. All that repressed emotion can't be good for you. If you are able to understand all your feelings I think you'll be able to control your generation at will."

Yoni chewed on this. She understood what he was saying, but the idea about talking about her emotions seemed pointless. The feelings were still going to be there after she was done talking so why even start?"

"I'm here Yoni. I heard what you said to that cadet six months ago in the dining hall. About your childhood in the orphanage. No child should have go through any of that."

"Some people had it worse."

"That maybe so, but that doesn't make it ok. Being strong isn't just about how much you can lift, or how many titans you can kill. Acknowledging that you need help from others shows how strong you actually are."

"Are you trying to upset me?" Yoni stood up from her chair. She felt anger welling up inside her. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Shadis pushed on.

"What are you mad at Yoni? Why don't you want to continue talking?"

"I just don't want to!" Yoni kicked the chair into the wall so hard that it got stuck.

Shadis felt a breakthrough was close.

"Why won't you face your demons!?" the instructor got up from his chair and braced himself.

Yoni snapped her head to face her instructor. A thick vein portruded from her forehead and her eyes had green glow. Shadis knew Yoni wouldn't be in control of her actions from this point on so he readied himself.

Yoni charged at him. Due to her new leg strength from weight training her legs were much stronger. She moved much faster and her craters were significantly larger. She tackled Shadis. They flew at least ten feet before they hit the ground. Shadis was grateful for this large bunker. If he had hit a wall just now it would have been over. Yoni was on top of him, preparing to give him the punch of his life. But before she was able to Shadis sprayed her with pepper spray.

Yoni rolled over onto the ground with her face in her palms screaming. Eventually she raised her head and tried to blink away the pain. Realizing that this did nothing she went back to shielding her eyes. while her hands were away Shadis saw that she had returned to her normal eye color and vascularity and breathed a sigh of relief. He walked up to Yoni and gave her a pat on the back.

"I think you need counseling."

The Next Morning

Her eyes were killing her. She remembered what happened last night in the training bunker. She saw what she was doing, but she couldn't control her actions. Yoni had to go to counseling every day during her lunch break. Shadis' orders.

Yoni was up and about at 5:30 in morning getting ready for the survival expedition they were doing for the next week and a half. Yoni was looking forward to it. It was a chance to see how strong she had gotten. The last survival expedition they went on, Yoni performed poorly and was a liability for her team. Not this time though, she was ready.

Since they were further into their training the mock expedition would have more elements of reality in it. Meaning it would be a lot more dangerous. This was to weed out any underperforming cadets.

The squads had already been chosen. The people in Yoni's squad were, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Sasha, Connie, Krista, Ymir, Reiner, Bertolt, Jean and Annie. Mikasa and Reiner were the squad captains. Yoni was excited to work with them. Over the last six months they had acknowledged Yoni's growth. Yoni was underperforming on purpose as to not draw any unnecessary attention to herself, however the group saw her change from a sorry excuse of a soldier to a proficient one. She had gotten close to some of her teammates already. Krista had become a good friend. Along with Connie, Bertolt, and Reiner. Ymir was another story. Well Yoni realized that Ymir was only there because of Krista, but she was still happy for the company. Frankly she thought Ymir hated her, so she was surprised when they started hanging out together. Her childhood friends also started branching out their circles. Mikasa buddied up with Sasha, Eren with Jean even though they do butt heads sometimes, and Armin and Annie. The big group always sat together at every break. Yoni was sad that she going to have to miss lunch from now on.

The warning bell rung, meaning that there was thirty minutes till they set off. Everyone went to go suit up with their ODM gear.

Mikasa had already begun suiting up when Yoni walked in. she got a few dirty looks from some cadets, but she brushed them off and kept moving. She walked with an air of confidence that she never had before. Yoni had really grown up. She wasn't that small little girl that made sweets anymore. Yoni had grown to a solid 5'6", much taller than Mikasa who stood at 5'4". She also noticed Yoni's new physique. She didn't know how but Yoni got really muscular right before her eyes. Yoni's features changed some to. Thanks to the strict diet they were now on, Yoni's cheeks had disappeared leaving a sharp jawline. Hers twists were down to her mid back now. She knew that Yoni had difficulty finding time to do her hair. But she did it as frequently as she could. She kept them up in a bun when she was training cause they tend to get in the way, but Mikasa loved seeing her with her hair down. What really got her was that Yoni still had on the headband that Mikasa made for her all those years ago. That night was one of her most cherished memories of their friendship. She remembered how they met.

Yoni was pushed into a corner by Brel and his goons. Mikasa and Eren came were on their way back home from wood picking and saw the altercation. They jumped in and stopped it. Yoni was a timid and scared little girl back then. She was even scared of them at first. As a thanks for saving her, she gave them some sweets from her basket and they've been friends ever since.

Mikasa was proud of the person Yoni's become. Yoni's eyes drifted over and met Mikasa's. Without wasting anytime Yoni gave her a giant smile. Mikasa didn't show it, but she was smiling on the inside.

A small blonde walked in and started gearing up next to Yoni. Krista. Mikasa noticed that had become close these last few months. A pang of jealousy rose up in Mikasa as she looked at the new friends. Krista had jumped onto Yoni's back and demanded to get be carried out. A tall brown haired girl looked at them with glare meaner than Mikasa's. Mikasa brushed it off, it was probably nothing. And why was she feeling this way? Yoni was allowed to have other friends. She took a deep breath and went to go see what Eren was up to.

And they were off. They're destination was to the deepest parts of the forest. They were sent with only one pitcher of water each and some crackers. This was a survival test. They had three objectives. To secure water, food, and to survive an attack from a predator. The cadets were unaware of that last part. This is where they separated the wheat form the chaff. They had to complete the three objectives within the week and a half time constraint, or they would fail.

Mikasa and Reiner headed up team one and led it to their designated area. Each team would head to a different part of the woods and test their skills there. The cadets weren't as care free as they were in the locker rooms, they knew there was a possibility death on this survival expedition. The time for laughing was over.

All the teams had arrived to their spots and began to set up camp. The sun was beginning to set, so they decided to to start their search for water tomorrow. After they tied up their horses for night everyone turned in, understanding that they would have to be up at the crack of dawn. Mikasa, Yoni, Ymir, Krista went to their tent and wasted no time in going to bed. After about an hour Yoni's eyes shot open with frustration. She couldn't sleep. Her last encounter with Drill instructor Shadis kept replaying in her mind. If she would just confront her feelings she would be able to control her generation but…it was just to painful. It didn't seem right to burden someone else with her problems. Yoni looked to her right and saw Mikasa fast asleep with such a peaceful look on her face. Mikasa never wavered in being there for Yoni and Yoni appreciated that. She though back to the night before the invasion and the talk they had. She never knew Mikasa could show such raw emotion. It seems like it was a one time thing, because Mikasa never showed anything to that extent since. Yoni missed Mikasa's warmth as well. Every night was a cold one compared to the eve of the titan invasion. She decided not to bother her. Yoni rolled over to the left to see Krista wide awake and staring at her.

Krista broke the awkward silence with a whisper. "Want to go take a walk or something?"

"Are you sure you're allowed?" Yoni looked over to Ymir who was producing a waterfall of drool.

Krista rolled her eyes at the suggestion and then rolled herself over. "You look like you wanted to talk but whatever."

Yoni gave a soft chuckle before tapping Krista's shoulder.

They walked ten minutes away from camp before they sat down together on some logs.

"So why couldn't you sleep Yoni?"

"I don't know, thinking about the past I guess. Why were you awake?"

"I'm a very light sleeper and you were moving around in your sleep right next to me so…"

Yoni felt a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry. My mind is moving at a mile a minute, I can't seem to slow it down."

"Well, what's on your mind?"

"Its ok I'm sure I'll chill out in a little bit."

"Yoni I happen to like my sleep. If we go back to the tent and you wake up in ten minutes again, I'll have Ymir beat you up. We all know she can't stand you so I'm sure she'll be glad to."

Yoni laughed. Like actually laughed. She didn't know what was different about Krista, but she was so easy to talk to.

"Alright. You were warned."

It shouldn't have been that easy but Yoni spilled everything on her mind. Everything from her parent's early departure from her life, Hannes, Mikasa, Eren, Armin and their time together. She told her about her life at the orphanage in Shingashina which solicited some looks of horror from Krista. She explained their encounter with her basket and Brel. All her feelings were just pouring out her like a water faucet, she felt in total control of herself. Next was the titan invasion. She told her of all the death she saw, the pungent smell of blood in the air, and the death of Carla. At this point Yoni couldn't hold back her tears. She never talked about that day, she still felt incredibly guilty for not being able to save her. She kept all those feelings bottled up inside. Yoni even trusted Krista enough to explain what Hannes said about her abilities to Krista.

Krista listened intently. She remembered stories her horrible mother told her about Brevi's, they weren't to be trusted. It seemed like that was a lie. Yoni was the opposite of untrustworthy. She was honest, strong and dependable, which was more than what she could say for herself.

Yoni explained to her why she was underperforming in training and why the Shadis was such a hard ass to her. She told about her secret training and how she almost killed Shadis. That's where she stopped. Tears were rolling down her face but her face showed something other than sadness. Yoni felt relieved, like a heavy burden taken off her shoulders and burned right in front of her. She felt a soft hand on hers.

Krista looked at Yoni with a furrowed brow."

"How do you mange to smile everyday?"

"If I don't, I'll just cry all the time." Yoni wiped her tears away. "But it felt really nice to just talk about everything."

"I'm always here to listen. You make all my problems sound like nothing."

"Somehow I doubt that."

Yoni felt something land on her face, then immediately she felt the hard impact of Krista palm on her cheek. Even though she was small she had some power.

"SORRY! I saw a bug."

"Did you get it?"

"No it flew away."

They shared a laugh. Yoni remembered something from her survival course."

"Wait if there's bugs--"

"'--that means there's water nearby. Should we go check it out?"

"Nah, there's no rush. We'll lead them to it tomorrow."

They headed back to camp and slept soundly. Both of them did


	7. The Final Task

The Next morning

Yoni woke up refreshed from her sleep. She was happy that talked about her feelings to someone. Maybe Shadis was right about some things.

Mikasa wasted no time is gathering up the troops

"Mina san, we need to find water. Everyone get on your horses and-"

"-Mikasa heichou, I know where we can find water." Christa said with her hand raised.

"How do you know where water is, no one in our cadet corps has ever been this far into the woods?"

"Yoni and I discovered bugs in the area. Its about a 10 minute walk northeast from here."

Ymir came up between Christa and Yoni and put her arm around them both. "What were you two doing so far from camp while everyone was asleep?" "We were just talking Ymir."

Mikasa brushed off her annoyance quickly. "Jean and Eren, go and check out the water situation. Yoni and Christa, since you guys have such a good lay of the land try and find us some fruits or mushrooms."

Sasha pushed to front with a potato in her mouth that she managed to smuggle out of the dinning hall. "I think I have a better idea Mikasa heichou. I saw some mountain lion tracks when we rode in. Its about time for them to start hunting for food. If we find it and track it we can take its food. Then we'll have meat." some drool came out of her mouth at the last part, but everyone disregarded it.

Mikasa turned to Reiner. "What do you think Reiner?"

"Well we have enough people to do both. Why not split into two groups?"

"Ok. Sasha, Ymir, Christa, and Yoni with me, we're going to track that lion. We'll start on the horses then switch to ODM gear."

The five of them mounted up and left.

"Why do we always get the lame jobs?" Connie asked.

"They are better suited for the job, just let it be Connie." Reiner tightened his ODM gear belt. "Lets just get some water before Mikasa gets back."

Mikasa's Squad

"Sasha have you found the tracks yet?" Yoni was tired of this already. It had been an hour since they started tracking the mountain lion.

"I've finally got it. No we get to have some meat everyone." More drool came out of her mouth.

They ran at full speed for a half an hour until Sasha told them they were close to the lion. They switched to ODM and tracked the lion from the trees.

"Mate! There it is. Everyone stay quiet its stalking a deer, I can tell from its body language . Mmmm I can't wait to eat venison, I haven't had any in so long."

"Sasha stay focused, how long until it catches up to the dear?" Mikasa's eyes never left the mountain lion.

"It shouldn't take long, mountain lions are excellent hunters. If its already in stalking mode then its probably close. Be on your guard."

"Mina, here's the plan for when we reach the deer. Sasha, shoot the deer before the lion has a chance to kill it. Hopefully it runs away but if it doesn't I'll deal with it. Everyone else surround the deer on all sides, just in case Sasha doesn't take it down in one arrow. Everyone got it?"

HAI!

They reached the deer in no time t all.

Everyone surrounded the deer as Sasha got ready to take her shot. There was no way that Sasha would miss. She was expert marksmen, unmatched by any soldier ever, well except for Yoni's mother.

Sasha lined up her shot, took a breath and let the arrow go.

Straight threw the heart.

The deer dropped. The confused mountain lion backed up and stood still for a minute before running away.

Ymir broke the silence. "Wow Sasha, being from the mountains actually did you some good."

Sasha didn't even process what Ymir said to her. "MEAT!"

Everyone dropped from the trees, except for Mikasa. She wasn't to sure that lion had completely left, so she would watch form the trees.

"Wow this is enough food for the squad for months Mikasa. We didn't even need the whole week and a half to find food."

Suddenly there was a low growl coming from behind them.

The mountain lion was back. Looking as angry as ever. The lion charged straight for Yoni.

Yoni wasn't expecting it. Soon she was on her back with a ferocious mountain lion drooling in her face. Her hands were on its neck keeping it's sharp teeth from tearing of her face.

"Yoni!" Mikasa felt a surge of power rush threw her. She gassed off the branch with her her swords ready to pierce the lion from the back. Before she could the lion became limp and Yoni tossed it aside. Mikasa couldn't slow herself down but she managed to move her swords just in time. Mikasa landed on Yoni with a hard thud.

Ymir couldn't contain her laughter. The squad captain straddling Yoni with her swords deep into the ground on with Yoni's head in between them.

Mikasa tried to hide her blush and got up quickly. Sasha went over to inspect the mountain lion.

"It's neck is broken? Yoni did you do this?"

"Uh I guess I did."

"Well you did well not to damage the skin. This can fetch a pretty penny." Sasha took out her knife and started skinning the mountain lion.

Ymir bent down and squatted next to Yoni with a look that demanded answers. Before Yoni could crack under Ymir's intense stare Christa saved her.

"Ymir enough, we all can see that Yoni is strong enough to snap that lion's neck. I can probably do it, it's not hard."

Sasha chimed in. "Actually its quite difficu-."

"Mina san we need to get back to camp with this food. Ymir go and Christa, go get the horses and we'll be off." Mikasa interrupted.

Ymir put her arm around Christa and walked towards the horses. Not before giving Yoni a side glance though. Mikasa charged at Yoni.

"Yoni you have to be more careful or people could find out."

"Well Christa already kno-"

"Baka! Why would you tell her. Her and Ymir are close. I don't trust Ymir as far as I can throw her. Is that what you to were talking about last night?"

"Well I didn't plan on doing it. Last night I couldn't sleep and I had a lot on my mind. She just happened to be up as well so we…talked for a little while."

"How much did you tell her?"

"…Everything"

"ARE YOU KIDDING YONI!"

"I'm sorry."

"If you had a lot on your mind why didn't you just talk to me?"

"You were asleep I didn't want to bother you."

"I thought we talked about this? I'm always here for you and you can talk to me about everything."

"I know its just…"

"Have I not been there for you lately? Is that what this is? Is that why you have to talk to Christa about such sensitive information."

"…"

"Well I'm sorry for that. I've been caught up with training and I haven't had time to check in with you."

"It's fine Mikasa. I don't really like bothering people with my problems."

"Please bother me anytime you can. I need a break from all this military stuff. And talking about your feelings is good for you. It helped me when I went through my parents death. Eren was there to listen to me, so I'll be there to listen to you."

Yoni could only smile. It was nice actually talk to Mikasa like this. She usually always training or studying. Mikasa looked different. She acted different. Yoni was starting to see her differently now, maybe as more than a childhood friend. Without thinking Yoni pulled Mikasa close to her. Mikasa's face turned bright red

"Yoni what are you doing?"

Yoni answered her by giving a soft kiss on her lips.

They must've forgot Sasha was still there. They pulled apart before Sasha turned around to face them.

"Ugh I finally got it. Here Yoni you can have the skin since you killed it."

Yoni took a look at the bloody skin and was immediately repulsed. "Uh no thanks Sasha, you can have it."

Yoni turned back to Mikasa. The red still hadn't receded from her cheeks. Yoni fixed her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of Ymir and Christa coming back with the horses. Mikasa quickly mounted her horse and ordered everyone back to camp. Yoni felt like an idiot, why did she do that? Her emotions were really out of whack lately.

"Shit now I have another emotion to figure out." She lamented.

Mikasa was totally flustered. She didn't know what to do with herself. And the campfire that night she avoided Yoni at all costs despite her various attempts to talk to her about what happened. What was Yoni thinking? Mikasa couldn't think clearly.

"was she really upset though?" she thought. Its true that she was beginning to see Yoni in a different light, however this was all so sudden. If Eren found out, it would ruin any chance of the two of further developing what they had. Even if it was miniscule. Eren wasn't the brightest when it came to picking up signals, so Mikasa had to work twice as hard to get things through to him.

"But…Yoni's lips were so soft. Why were they so soft? Ugh!" Mikasa shook her head to erase the thought. And replaced it with an affirmation. "I love Eren and that's that!" That wasn't at all convincing, and she knew that.

**Sorry for the short chapter and for the wait. I've been swamped at work so I decided to put out something short and sweet. Next chapter will be out as soon as I get time. ****What's going on with Yoni and Mikasa? ****Feel free to leave reviews and criticisms, it makes me better.**

**Thank you and I hope you enjoy!**


	8. Fully Fledged

The cadets performed excellently on the survival expedition four months ago. It was the night before graduation. Shadis thought of all the exemplary cadets he had this year, but only a few stood out to him.

Reiner. A trustworthy comrade, ready to help whenever he's needed.

Armin. What he lacked in physical skill he made up for in the classroom.

Annie. She has superb skills but her ability to work with others is poor.

Bertolt. He has great skills but lacks the necessary aggression to fight titans.

Connie. A fast and very flexible soldier, a slow thinker though.

Sasha. Instincts so accurate that it's almost scary

Ymir. Strong skill set, but she has problems working with the males in the class.

Christa. Lacks a reason for being here, but still wants to prove herself.

Eren. Has amazing drive, he honed his skills to be in the top of the class.

Mikasa. One of the best cadets I've ever seen. We'll never see the likes of her skills again.

Yoni. She was a sorry excuse of a soldier when she arrived. She couldn't even hold her rifle. Thanks to her secret training she's now up to par, her generation control still needs some work but she won't be a liability on the battlefield. Being unable to show so her true skill, Yoni is ranked at the bottom of her class, but she is far above that. If she was able to perform fully her rank would be within the top fifteen cadets.

This was one of the best classes that Shadis had instructed. They would do well in whatever branch they choose.

NIGHT OF THE CLOSING CEREMONY

DINING HALL

"Are you serious Eren? Why would you join the scouts if you managed to get into the top ten?" a cadet asked.

"Cause that's what I came here for. I came here to kill every titan, I can't do that in the military police."

"YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM!" this statement silenced the whole room. When Eren spoke next, he had everyone's attention.

"So? Do you just want to give up? We aren't winning right now but soon we'll be able to turn the tide. Humankind hasn't lost yet!" Eren slammed his drink on the table and stormed outside. His three closest friends followed him out.

Eren appeared in their view with his back facing them. They could tell he just finished wiping away tears.

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to blow up like that."

"He asked a question and you gave him your answer." Yoni sat down on the steps next to him. "It was actually quite inspiring, now I'm even more fired up."

There was a small bout of laughter that was then followed by a comfortable silence. Until Armin broke it.

"We're all joining the scouts so lets make a pact. I don't want to lose you guys."

Eren turned to Armin. "What's gonna be in the pact?"

Mikasa beat Armin to the punch. "We don't die no matter what. No matter the circumstances, we have to live. We live for each other and each other only. We're not going to do anything reckless unless ordered to…I need all of you to live. I don't want to lose anymore family."

They looked back at her with gentle eyes. Eren put his hand on her knee. In any other instance this would cause Mikasa to blush uncontrollably. Yoni gave her one of her coveted smiles that light up the night sky. Armin's determined blue eyes peered into hers before he said "Then it's decided."

THE NEXT MORNING

Our four newly minted soldiers were standing in the streets getting ready to send off the scout regiment for another expedition. After 10 minutes they finally appeared and the crowd erupted.

"Commander Elvin please kick some titan butt!"

"Captain Levi is over there. Kill all the titans you can!!"

Eren turned around to look at his friends. "That's going to be us soon guys. We're going to be scouts!" He had such a gleeful look in his eyes that he almost looked like a kid again.

A familiar voice caught their attention. "Wow! Look at you' all. You've grown so much."

Yoni's head whipped around so fast she almost gave herself whiplash.

"OJI CHAN!" Yoni ran up to him and tackled him with a bear hug. Hannes wasn't expected her to be this strong. Years of intense training would do that to anyone he guessed. Still he couldn't believe his eyes. His little god daughter had grown up. Her hair was longer, her cheeks were smaller, and she was a lot taller now. She was taller than her father at this point. Yoni helped him up from his tackle induced fall and quickly embraced him and rested her head on his chest. For the first time in a long time Yoni felt at home. She felt a gentle hand rest on the top of her head.

"Oji chan I heard you got promoted to captain of the corps of engineers." Yoni and Hannes separated.

"Hai hai, you proud of me?"

Before Yoni could give an answer Eren jumped in. "Who would have thought a drunk like you would make it to captain of the corps of engineers?"

"Teme, you haven't changed a bit, have you?" Hannes chastised.

"Why would I?" Eren got his hair tousled By Hannes. An interaction he was all too familiar with.

"Sorry Oji chan we're being called to the walls to go clean the cannons. We'll catch up later, ok" Yoni gave him a quick hug and lead her friends towards their duty stations.

Hannes couldn't be prouder of those kids, or were they even kids anymore?

Armin and Mikasa went to a different canon station, so it was Eren and Yoni who met up with the rest of the cadets. They arrived and overheard some unexpected news.

"Eeeeh? Your joining the scouts Connie? But I thought you were dead set on joining the military police?"

"I made the decision myself, so don't think your little speech last night persuaded me in any way!" Connie returned to cannon he was cleaning to try and hide his blush.

"Well it persuaded me." Thomas, the one Eren talked to last night walked up and joined the conversation.

Sasha came walking towards them with a look like the devil. She opened her jacket to show the meat that she stole from the officers lockers. With drool falling from her mouth she declared that they would share it after their done with their cleaning detail. Everyone was mortified. They knew that they could be thrown in jail for just knowing about this. But who could stay mad at Sasha? They all laughed, however this moment of peace ended in an instant.

The sound of lighting boomed behind them on the other side of the wall.

Yoni could hardly breathe, it was the titan from that day. The one who breached the wall.

The colossal titan.

Yoni wasn't the only one frozen, everyone else around her wasn't moving as well. That was understandable though, this was the first time that they seeing one. To have the colossal titan be their first was especially unlucky.

A gust of wind materialized from the titan's sudden spring into existence. Everyone was knocked off the wall in an instant, however thanks to their training they were able to latch themselves onto the wall.

As if it was his only reason for existence, the colossal titan kicked a hole in the wall. The sound of the wall crumbling into pieces below them was enough to trigger memories from the first titan invasion. Eren's eyes which were previously filled with fear was now filled with fury.

"Stationary Cannon Maintenance Team 4! Prepare for battle, our target is the colossal titan, don't let him get away!" On that note Eren gassed up to the top of the wall and looked titan directly in the eye. No one else moved including Yoni. Her brain wasn't fully processing what was happening fast enough for her to be able to move. She just hung from her cables motionless from fear. Eren on the other hand was ready to go. Before he could strike the colossal titan raised its hand dragged it hard against the wall. In this one swoop, he was able to take out all the stationary cannons. When Eren realized that this was a sign of intelligence, fear ran up and down his spine. He pushed it down, now wasn't the time. When the titan dragged its arm across the wall Eren managed to attach himself to keep from plummeting to his death. He knew this was his one shot to kill the titan and he wouldn't waste it.

In a series of sophisticated 3D maneuvering he managed to put himself in the prime position for nape cutting. He attached his cables and gassed himself down. Before he could get close, a high volume of steam kept him at bay. The temperature of the steam was enough to give him first degree burns but Eren didn't care. He readied himself and gassed himself quickly to the nape. With a scream of determination he delivered his final blow, only to cut steam revealing that there was no titan in sight. A flustered Eren fumbled to stick his cable into the wall. Once secure he pondered what could have happened. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.

"Eren did you take him down?" Yoni had finally worked up the nerve to gas herself up the wall to go help. She tried to get more people to come but they were severely frightened. When she arrived there wasn't a titan, only a confused Eren."

"No Yoni, it's just like the first invasion, he appears does what he needs to do and then disappears.

At the top of the wall the discussed further plans.

"Sorry, I let him escape guys."

"Don't apologize, you and Yoni were the only ones able to move after--"

"Oi cut the small talk, the walls been damaged, titans could come through at any moment." Connie interjected.

Before they could respond another voice invaded.

"What are you cadets doing? Operations are underway now that a titan has appeared, report back to headquarters now!" And then they were gone.

As they maneuvered back to HQ, Yoni heard the terrified screams of those being evacuated. Compared to Shingashina, the evacuation started a lot quicker. Maybe cause they were prepared this time. Those people down there didn't know what atrocities lay before them. Yoni didn't want anyone else to feel like how she felt that day. And with that thought, that immobilizing fear she felt when the colossal titan appeared was gone.

She would protect the innocent


	9. Attack on Trost

Yoni and Eren met up with Armin and Mikasa at HQ. Armin was afflicted with the same heart stopping fear Yoni experienced on the wall. He was currently trying to fill up his gas tanks but he was shaking so much that it became a wasted effort. When he noticed Yoni and Eren he felt a minute amount of relief, which was overtaken by racing mind.

"This is bad guys. We don't have the technology to plug a hole that big. The titans are going to come through and we won't be able to stop them!"

Eren put a hand on his shoulder. "Oi, Armin this isn't like the last time. We know how to fight back now. You need to calm down."

Armin took a breath. When that didn't calm him down he took another. " Gomen, I'm ok now." He filled up his tank with no problem.

"Yoni, let's fill up ours too. We used a good bit getting here."

Yoni handed her tank to Armin and addressed her friends.

"This is it guys. The titans are at our doorstep again. Now we have the means to fight back. Let's put our training to good use. Remember our agreement. We live for each other and we protect each other."

The others were astonished at the girl that stood before them. She's changed a lot. The Yoni they knew before was always carefree and always smiling. She never would have said something of that much substance before.

"ALL CADETS REPORT TO THE COURT YARD FOR MISSION ASSIGNMENTS!"

COURTYARD

Their assignments were given. The Garrison will be the vanguard, the cadets corps will provide back up in the middle, and the garrison's elite troops will protect the rear. The speech the section commander gave fell short of rousing and hit terrifying right on the mark. As soldiers they were prepared to give their lives, however putting it so bluntly didn't help the situation.

Armin, Eren and Yoni were in the same squad. Mikasa was place with the elite troops because of her skill. When she heard the news her face became pale. She wanted to be with her friends to protect them. Some things you couldn't change. They headed out to their duty stations. As if they were of the same mind, they all stopped and realized, this could be the last time they saw each other. Yes they had an agreement to live at all costs, but sometimes things go wrong and they realized this.

They couldn't find the words they wanted to say. Armin was told to make preparations for departure by the captain. Eren went to follow him but was stopped b Mikasa's hold on his shirt.

"Eren, if things get too bad, come and find me."

"What do you mean Mikasa, we're in different squads."

"When things get out of control following the rules becomes difficult. Come find me and I'll protect you."

"Ackermann! You're assigned to the rear guard, come with me."

"I think you should pick someone else, I'll only be a burden."

"I'm not asking for your input. Be at the courtyard gate in five minutes."

Mikasa searched for another excuse in her head, but was instead greeted with a headbutt from Eren.

"Oi, Mikasa, snap out of it. Humanity is on the brink of extinction. It's not always about you!"

Mikasa's face turned from concerned to angry. "You don't think I know that Eren. I fucking know the world is ending. I'm asking you to stay safe and to not die, but noooo, you have to turn it into one of your macho speeches. You can't kill every titan. Going in with that mindset will get you killed."

"I can take care of myself." Eren turned around walked away. To save face Mikasa did the same thing.

Yoni was saddened at what just transpired before her. It quickly turned to anger.

"HELL NO! This is not how you guys are going to leave things!" Mikasa and Eren turned around to their friend. "Get the fuck back here and make up. Things don't always go to plan, you'll regret leaving things like this." A tear rolled down her cheek. Eren and Mikasa immediately felt like assholes. What was supposed to be a tender moment between friends was ruined by their pride.

"Gomen Mikasa I overreacted."

"No, I was being overprotective. I know you can take care of yourself. I'm sorry." They hugged and Eren went on his way.

Mikasa turned to Yoni

"The same goes for you, don't die."

In response Yoni gave her a smile that could melt ice and pulled her into a firm embrace. An embrace so meaningful that if they never saw each other again it would be enough to hold them over.

Mikasa missed this. She hadn't been this close to Yoni since the kiss four months ago. She hated how awkward things got between them. She missed her hugs.

Yoni pulled away and looked her dead in the eyes. "Don't worry, your always with me." She pointed to the head band Mikasa made her. "Don't you die either." With that she ran off to follow Eren and Armin.

FIRST BATTLE

The squad the squad was Thomas, Armin, Eren, Yoni and three others whose names were unknown to Yoni because of the rush. She knew they were from her class though.

The seven of them stood on a rooftop awaiting orders.

"Oi, Yoni, Armin isn't this a great opportunity? If we perform well here before we apply to the scouts, we'll get recruited and get fast promotions." A playful smile graced his face. Yoni wished this Eren was around more, but she understood why it wasn't.

"Un! Let kill these bastards." Armin said with a voice that was almost sinister.

The three nameless joined the conversation.

"Oi, our class has a lot of candidates for the scout regiment you know, let's see who can kill more titans."

A small air of camaraderie was born. A little competition never hurt anyone.

"SQUAD 34 MOVE OUT. GO AND SUPPORT THE VANGUARD!"

"YES SIR!" Eren turned back to his squad. It was only natural for him to take the lead. "Mina san LETS GO!"

A war cry ensued and squad 34 moved out.

"The frontline is decimated, look how many titans are already this close!" Armin said.

They were gassing through air surveying the situation when Yoni spotted a large mass on a nearby rooftop. She focused on it and knew what it was immediately.

A ghostly tone took over Yoni's voice. "Oi...there's a titan on the roof over there."

In the time it took for them to turn their attention to it, the titan leaped through the air and landed on a nearby bell tower. Six of them managed to get out of the way. Thomas was the only one missing. Yoni knew what that meant but the titan gave her visual clarification. The titan peaked out from behind the bell tower, showing off a barely living Thomas. Yoni closed her eyes, in hopes that the sight would be erased, however that sight was permanently burned in. Thomas got gulped down and the titan walked away. There was nothing she could have done, that's what she told herself. Her eyes opened to the sound of Eren gassing towards the titan.

Yoni followed immediately. That paralyzing she felt on the wall was long gone. Now she had a different kind of fear that mobilized her. Courage.

After Yoni, the rest of squad 34 followed.

Eren zipped through the air, under bridges through open windows, then finally to the titan. Before he could cut the nape, a four meter titan jumped up and nipped at Eren. This threw off his momentum and he went head first into a roof.

Yoni was horrified. That titan would do the same to the rest of them if he wasn't dealt with. Yoni decided she would be the one to do it. She thought carefully. This titan was agile and could jump. Any miscalculation would mean death.

"Squad 34 meet up with Eren, I'll take care of this one."

No one had anything to say about that except for Armin.

"Remember our deal Yoni, don't do anything reckless."

"Mochiron Armin."

As the rest of squad 34 rerouted as to avoid the small titan, Yoni headed to the rooftop right next to it to keep its attention. Yoni had a plan, but she would have to time just right. The titan jumped at her to get a bite but got a mouthful of concrete instead. This titan was not intelligent like the colossal one. Yoni was thankful for that. Yoni knew it was getting ready to jump again, so she got herself ready fast. She knew she needed to move quickly. Finally it jumped. Yoni wasted no time in sidestepping and shooting her cables into the roof across from her and the titan. She quickly gassed over to the other roof. The titan wouldn't stay in the air much longer, so it was now or never. She jumped off the roof and gassed herself upwards and attached her cables to the back of the titans neck. Yoni was glad. The easy part is over now she had to cut the nape. The titan began losing altitude, everything was going to plan. Yoni realized that using the momentum of the falling titan would make cutting the nape easier. Yoni fell with the titan, she gave herself an extra push and gassed herself towards the nape.

SLICE!

A clean cut.

The titan fell and steam escaped for the nape. Yoni maneuvered herself onto a roof. She couldn't keep herself from smiling. A titan. She killed a titan. Her happiness was short lived. She heard the girl from her squad scream and turned around.

In the time it took for her to kill one titan two others had appeared. One titan grabbed one of her teammates out the air and devoured him. A smaller titan grabbed the other one's cable and slammed her into a wall.

Yoni sprang into action, maybe she could save her. She was too far away she wouldn't make it in time. By the time she even halfway the titan had eaten her. Yoni stopped herself on a roof. She was in disarray. She took up too much time with that one titan. If she had been quicker she could have stopped those other ones. She was kidding herself. There was no way she could handle those two by herself. She looked around for Armin and Eren, there was no need to engage those titans without a plan. She saw that they were about ten rooftops away and headed towards them. She could tell from there that Eren was in bad shape. He was bleeding from his head and his left calf was gone.

She saw Armin just standing there. She quickly knew that he frozen from shock and fear.

Huge thuds were coming from behind Armin. A ten meter bearded titan appeared next to Armin.

Yoni was still too far away.

"Armin Migete! She screamed.

Armin stayed still and let the titan grab him.

Yoni was frantic, her best friend was about to get eaten.

"WE HAD A DEAL ARMIN!" Her voice was cracked from fear and desperation.

That woke him up. Armin started screaming and struggling in the titan's grasp, but to no avail. The titan plopped Armin into his mouth. Yoni was enraged and sad at the same time. She could feel her generation activate. She landed on a roof and jumped forward with all her might. She was flying through the air at ten times the normal speed of her ODM gear. It still wasn't fast enough. The titans mouth was beginning to close. She wouldn't make it in time. Yoni gave a cry of desperation. She could feel herself losing control, she would go on a rampage soon if she couldn't stop it.

Before Yoni completely blacked out, she saw Eren at the mouth of the titan pulling Armin out and throwing him on the roof. Before Armin could pull him back out the titan shut his mouth, biting off his outstretched hand.

This snapped her back to reality. She landed next to Armin who was horrified. He was all slimy with titan spit. Yoni took a look at the bearded titan and became desolate. She dropped to her knees and sobbed. "Why am I so useless?" She asked herself. "If only I had been faster I could have saved everyone. Mikasa! We have to find Mikasa."

"Armin get up we need to leave or we'll get eaten." He didn't move. He stared at the bearded titan with an open mouth

"We had a deal Eren...nande? WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?"

Yoni was thankful that these titans weren't intelligent or the titan would have turned his attention back to them.

Yoni hoisted Armin onto her shoulder and turned to leave. Something landed with a thud to the left of them.

It was the abnormal titan. The one that ate Thomas. It was staring at them with an unsightly smile. Its joints bent indicating its impending jump.

"Kuso!" Yoni cursed.

The titan jumped at them. Yoni tossed Armin to the side without thinking. The titan landed on the opposite roof with Yoni in its mouth.

Armin was in utter disbelief. He was just a liability. Both of his friends fell to the titans because of him.

Yoni was in agonizing pain. The titan was biting down on the lower half of her body. For some reason he wasn't able to bite through, but Yoni was complaining. She looked over to Armin who was sobbing.

"Armin go find Mikasa. Its over for me and Eren. Find Mikasa and don't leave her side!" It looked like Armin heard, however he made no moves to leave the Area. "Oi Armin get up and stop crying! If you stay here you're going to die. Find Mikasa." Before she could she what Armin did. The titan fixed its joints to jump again. She took one last Armin. 'This is it.'

Armin's eyes were full of water as the distance between him and Yoni grew greater and greater. Her screams were forever etched in his brain. His entire squad had been wiped out. It was just him now.


	10. The Return

Mikasa spotted a squad on some rooftops. She could easily make out a few faces, however none of them were the ones she wanted to see. When she landed she went straight to Annie to find some answers.

"Annie, do you know where Eren?" That's who she was the most worried about. Despite what they said to each other in the courtyard, Mikasa still wondered if Eren had his head on straight.

"I haven't seen him, but some squads managed to make it up the wall. Try asking Armin." Annie pointed to a huddled up blonde in the corner.

Armin was here!? Why didn't he call out to her? Why does he look like that?

"Armin?" The blonde tensed at Mikasa's voice. "Armin where's Eren? And Yoni for that matter, weren't you guys in the same squad?"

Armin lifted his head up with a force to show the tears coming from his eyes, as if to say 'please stop asking'.

Mikasa bent down so that they were face to face and gripped his shoulders. "Armin, where are they?" Her voice wobbled at the end as if she already knew his answer.

"Cadets…of Squad 34. Thomas Wagner, Nack Tius, Millius Zerumski, Mina Carolina, Josh Crellin, Yoni Brevi and Eren Yeager. These six carried out their mission and put up a heroic fight."

Mikasa's worst fear came true. She had lost more family. The others were shocked at the bombshell that was just dropped on them. Annie, Bertolt, Reiner, Sasha, Connie and Jean mourned the loss of their friends. Squad 34 had been decimated.

Armin grabbed Mikasa's wrists. "Eren…Yoni. They both died saving me. We had a pact and I made them break it. I'm worthless and I should have died with them." With his head lowered he began sobbing.

"Iie Armin." Her tone was cool, yet still filled with emotion. "If anything they followed our deal to the T. They protected you down to their last breath. You saying you should have died is wrong, we need to live at all costs. That's what they would have wanted. They died for us, so now we live for them." This did nothing to ease Armin's pain, but now he was able to stop crying.

Mikasa stood up tall, her eyes were glazed over, however tears didn't waste any time coming down. She wiped them away before she turned back to face the group. "Mina, we need to get HQ to fill up our tanks. If we don't live to fight another day, then the sacrifices made today will mean nothing." Mikasa walked to the edge of the roof and looked towards HQ. A piece of cloth flew through the air. It made a series of twists and enough to give you motion sickness. With its movements slowed, the cloth landed at Mikasa's feet. The glaze in her eyes dissolved. While bending down to pick it up, she promptly recognized it as the headband she made for Yoni. She clenched it her palm. 'They're really gone huh.' She thought. Anger invaded her thoughts. Now she understood what Eren was talking about. Revenge wasn't even a viable option, she needed to get everyone out of Trost and quickly before more titans show up.

"Mina san let's go, it's now or never." Mikasa said.

"It's hopeless Mikasa. We won't make through all those titans, not with the amount of gas we have."

"If we can't do it then we die." The cadets mulled this over. Either way they were dead, it was better to die fighting they thought. "Plus those people in HQ need our help. They're trapped."

Connie quickly rejected that thought. "Oi, Mikasa, there's no way we save the people in there. It's probably crawling with titans!'

"You would want someone to come for you, ne Connie?" Connie had no comeback. "MOVE OUT! Our objective is to reach the bell tower in HQ. Avoid contact with titans!" Mikasa gassed off the roof with the rest of the cadets following her. Connie never missed an opportunity to start a war cry and he wouldn't stop now. They flew through the air yelling at the top of their lungs.

Mikasa managed to kill two titans before running out of gas. She landed on the closet roof to her and somehow managed not to break any bones. She turned around and realized how far ahead she was. She wasn't aware of fast she was moving. The rest of the cadets won't catch up with her for another five minutes.

THUMP! THUMP!

A seven meter appeared behind Mikasa. It didn't seem like a variant, but it was a titan nonetheless. The titan took a swipe at her, which Mikasa dodged easily. There was no way for her to get around to its nape without gas. Mikasa would just have to hold out until the other got there.

Three minutes later

Mikasa realized that holding out for the next two minutes was going to be difficult. There was only so much roof to run to, and her blades were only so strong. It didn't help that titans had regenerative properties. One more swipe at the titan and her last blades would be finished.

What she was dreading came true. The titan cornered her until her back was against a chimney and went to grab her. Without having any other option Mikasa cut its fingers off, causing her blades to shatter. The titan stumbled back and looked at its steaming hand. He kept it up to its face, as if waiting for it reform before it attacked again.

He would never have the chance.

The sound of ODM gas breached the area. Steam suddenly escaped from the back of the titan's neck. It fell straight forward and landed on the building, causing its body to remain propped up.

Mikasa breathed a sigh of relief. 'Her squad had finally caug...' Her thoughts trailed off as she looked at the silhouette that walked through the steam.

A limping Yoni revealed herself from the steam. She was bloody from waist down and her jacket was gone. She had on a large rucksack filled with god knows what. The bottom of her twists were becoming undone from the steam. Yoni limped forward and jumped off the titan. After landing horribly on the roof, she used her blades to help her stand up.

As the pain cleared, Yoni opened her eyes in relief. She looked at a frozen Mikasa, whose eyes teary and wide with shock. 'What was her deal?' She thought.

Mikasa dropped her sword handles and ran into Yoni with wide arms. Yoni returned her tight embrace, still a little confused. Before she could ask a question Mikasa put her lips on hers.

Mikasa pulled away and placed her hands on Yoni's cheeks. "Armin told us You died, I thought you were gone."

Yoni was confused though. Happy, but confused. She knew Mikasa wouldn't want to unpack that kiss right now, so she saved it for another time. "No I managed to get away. Agh!" A searing pain shot down from her spine to her legs, causing her to drop to her knees.

"Yoni! What's wrong?" Mikasa leaned her up against the remnants of the chimney the titan smashed.

"A titan had my legs in its mouth for a little bit. Wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world but I managed."

The rest of the cadets landed next to them. Mikasa didn't give them any time to be shocked before she barked some orders.

"Sasha bandage up Yoni's leg wounds. Does anyone have any water to spare?" People sprang into action.

"Yoni? I saw you in the titan's mouth. I saw it take you away. How are you still alive?" Armin ran up and slid on his knees next to Yoni while knocking off a few shingles.

Yoni tried to speak through the pain. "I… managed to get away and came looking for you as quick as I could. When I got back the area I saw you last I saw something disturbing"

"What did you see?" Armin asked.

"I went back thinking if I survived maybe Eren did. But when I arrived the titan that ate Eren was in pieces."

"What do you mean in pieces Yoni?" Mikasa demanded.

"I mean the titan looked like it imploded on itself?"

Everyone stayed silent at this news. What could have caused a titan to internally combust?

"Wait which way did you come from? Armin asked. Yoni point to the east and was accosted by gasps from the rest of her comrades. "Yoni...there's nothing but titans in that direction. That's where the advanced guard was decimated. How many titans did you kill on the way here?"

"I avoided the ones I could by leaving blood trails to get them off me, but some were too smart to fall for that, so… I think about maybe five titans. Well seven including my first kill and this big boy right here." Yoni said this with a smile on her face.

Everyone present produced a sweat drop at the sound of this information. Connie was especially unnerved.

"Oi, Yoni. You killed six titans by yourself...while injured? How?"

The smile on her face disappeared immediately. "You can do scary things when death is looking you right in the eyes."

Armin's head dropped as he gripped his head in self-annoyance. "I should have went after you Yoni. Instead I just sat there crying until another squad turned up. I'm a waste of space."

Yoni flicked Armin in the forehead. "Baka! What good would it have done if you followed me into titan territory. You would have gotten yourself killed, and we had a deal Armin." A smile grace Yoni's face once again, which eased Armin's unrest.

Jean felt it was time to speak up. "I don't mean to break up the reunion, demo this many humans in one place is going to attract titans. We don't have the gas to evade them.

"Ah that reminds me." Yoni leaned forward off the destroyed chimney and pulled off her rucksack. "On my way back I collected the gas tanks of our fallen comrades. At first I felt uneasy, but we need them more than they do." Yoni had about 20 small gas tanks in there.

"Nice Yoni! This is more than enough to get us to HQ so we can fill up our larger ones."

"You guys go ahead, I'll only slow you down." Yoni wiggled her now bandaged legs. "Mikasa take my blades, leave me one though, just in case I'm not able to escape, I want to go out fighting."

Armin took the blade out of Yoni's hand and threw it off the roof. "I'm not leaving you. Not again. I have a plan. Reiner can carry Yoni?"

"Of Course, she doesn't look too heavy."

"Yosh. Alright, everyone change your tanks. We're going to make it to HQ, All of us.


	11. Attack on Trost, Part 2

"Oi Armin! The plan is falling apart!" Jean slashed the nape of a five-meter, then looked at his sputtering gas tank in annoyance. "At this rate, we won't make it to HQ."

The plan was this. They were in a diamond formation with three rings of operation. The best soldiers on the outside, the others in the second ring and the thing they're protecting on the inside. Those on the outside kill titans that engage them. Reiner and Yoni were in the middle. Reiner was doing his best to keep them out of the titan's reach however, the formation was dissolving quickly. The soldiers on the second ring were getting picked off easily, so Reiner had the engage on some tricky maneuvers to get away from them. Yoni, on the other hand, was fast asleep. Even though there was all this commotion she was managing to remain unbothered. She had complete trust in Reiner and the rest of her squad, so she used this time to try and heal up.

Armin sensed that his plan was on the verge of failing. He noticed that the people around him in the second ring were not going to make it through all these titans, so he needed to reevaluate. They all landed on some roofs and thought out their situation. They were about three-fourths of the way there, however, the concentration of titan drastically increased. If they were going to make it through there, they needed a new plan.

"How are we going to get through this many titans, with the gas we have?" Sasha asked. "Don't forget that we still have meat on the wall to go get."

"Sasha's right," Armin said. "If we try to go through this many titans our gas will run out for sure and we'll get eaten. What should we do?" Armin massaged his temples.

"Well, we can't stay here!" Mikasa gassed towards an incoming titan and killed it with ease. This many humans in one place will keep attracting more!

"I don't think that's it." Armin turned and looked at a sleeping Yoni.

"What are you getting at Armin?" Annie asked.

"Well, when you guys found me on that rooftop, there was a good bit of us, but no titans came towards us. Most of them kept their distance. But when we found Yoni, she had already killed a titan that had been drawn towards the area, most likely from her bloody headband that Mikasa was holding." Everyone was thinking it, but no one said it.

"I'm attracting the titans." Yoni beat Armin to the punch.

"Yoni I--"

"Its ok Armin, I understand if you want to leave me behind." A determined look grew on her face as she stood up with little to no wobbling.

Mikasa ran to her side. "Yoni sit down, you shouldn't be standing!"

"Daijoubu desu, Mikasa. I'll be damned if I get eaten alive."

"I never said we were leaving you behind Yoni, we just need to find a way to use it to our advantage. Maybe if we--"

"Maybe if we what?" Bertolt asked. A harsh tone took him over. "Do you have another plan that will get more of us killed Armin? I say we leave her here. If the titans are attracted to her we can create a window if we leave her. She can survive, she already killed seven titans, that's more than all of us except Mikasa. If we leave now we can come back and get her before anything."

"Oi Bertolt, what kind of soldier are you?" Connie asked. Connie looked up at him with burning eyes. "What kind of soldier leaves their comrade behind. I guess I had you pegged wrong." Connie walked over to Yoni and helped her stand up tall. "If you guys are leaving her behind, then I'm staying with her."

"Me too!" Sasha said.

"Me too!" Marco joined in.

"Me too," Annie stated in a glib tone.

It didn't take long for Bertolt to be the last one standing. "Connie, you were well ready to leave those people in HQ, what changed?"

"I did."

Yoni couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. Her comrades were willing to stay with her even if it meant almost certain death. 'Is this what unconditional love and friendship are?'

"Arigatou mina san, demo it makes sense for me to stay behind. If you all are willing to risk your life for me, then I can do the same." Yoni patted Connie on the back signaling him to let her go. Yoni readied her blades that she got from Reiner and walked towards the end of the roof. She shot her cables into the roof on the other side of the street. "I'll distract as many titans as I can, you guys make a straight shot for HQ."

"Yoni I said we weren't going to leave you, we can figure this out together."

"You're not leaving me behind Armin, I'm choosing to go. This is the best way to ensure the least amount of casualties."

Mikasa looked angry. Like really angry. "Oi Yoni, what the hell do you think you're doing? Your acting just like Eren. You're going to get yourself killed. I thought we promised each other we wouldn't do anything reckless!"

Yoni turned to face the road before she answered. She couldn't tell Mikasa what she really wanted to, not in front of everyone. Yoni always was a coward when it came to things like this.

"I think letting myself go with you guys is the more reckless thing to do. This is the best way Mikasa, and you know it. Don't worry, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." She was about to gas away, but a seven-meter titan came and tugged her cables, pulling straight to ground with a quickness. The impact was so hard the cobblestone underneath her lost of its integrity and cracked. However, Yoni wasn't in pain. Were all of her bones broken? Did her body go numb from shock? No, Yoni could feel her limbs and could move them easily. The only answer she could think of was that her generation activated. But she didn't know she could anything like this. Yoni suddenly remembered when she was in the mouth of the titan, and how it couldn't bite through her. The only thing was that she was in great pain at that time. Yoni chalked it up to the fact that she wasn't being continuously pounded into the ground, unlike being constantly bitten down on. Her thinking time was cut short. The titan reached down to grab her

"Yoni!" Mikasa gassed into the air and was ready to kill herself a titan when out of nowhere a 12 meter appeared with glowing green eyes and shoulder-length dark brown hair.

Yoni could hear Connie yell out "Are you kidding me!" from the roof.

Instead of coming for them, the green-eyed titan kicked the other titan away from Yoni so hard the titan flew back and destroyed any house that was in its way. The consecutive impact looked like it was enough to do serious damage to the nape because it started steaming and deteriorating.

The 12-meter titan looked down at Yoni. He made movements to grab her but Mikasa was quicker than him. Mikasa scooped Yoni up and brought her up back onto the roof.

"Was that one of your tricks Yoni?"

Yoni gave an embarrassed smile and scratched the back of her head. "Well, I wasn't planning on a titan to grab my cables."

"It's a wonder that you survived up until now." She had a playful snarkiness to her voice.

The 12-meter titan held his hand out and rested it on the roof. As if in a trance Yoni walked over and touched it. And small tingle went through the titan and into Yoni. She couldn't understand why she was seeing what she was seeing. She was seeing herself, Armin, Mikasa, Carla Dr. Yeager, and Hannes. She saw fleeting memories like they were from someone else's point of view. They were happy memories though, they made Yoni feel warm inside. And in an instant, she was back into reality.

She lost her balance for a quick second, but couldn't regain it fast enough. Yoni plopped down on the roof, her hand gripping her forehead.

"What's wrong Yoni?" Mikasa bent down next to her. Yoni eyes were wide and watery.

It took a minute for Yoni to get her words together. "I can't believe it. Eren?"

\--

Eren in titan form helped the squad of soldiers make it to HQ. He destroyed any titan they came across with ease. Eren was in complete control of his actions however, he didn't know how to feel. He hated titans with such intense hate it was almost scary, yet here he was walking around in a 12-meter tall giant meat suit. But he was happy that he could lay waste to this many titans, and so easily.

Mikasa, Armin, and the others were still a little skeptical that this titan was actually Eren. They didn't have much proof to go on, other than Yoni saying that she had a feeling. Still, it was hard to imagine that a regular titan would be helping them and not eating them.

After he got them to HQ, He emerged from the nape and pulled himself free of the strong titan tissue. Mikasa couldn't contain her happiness. She ran up to him and kissed him passionately. A kiss that Eren reciprocated. Yoni kept her composure, but displeasure and jealousy ran rampant inside her. 'She kissed him in front of everyone, she didn't even hesitate huh?' Yoni asked herself. She managed to brush this aside for the moment. Her friend was alive and she should be happy about that.

As if she sensed Yoni's unease Mikasa gave a glance in her direction, to which Yoni swiftly avoided as she limped out the room to get ready to head up the wall.

Yoni was happy that Eren was back, but she couldn't help but feel a little hurt by Mikasa's actions. Did their kiss mean absolutely nothing? Yoni was beginning to feel that way.

Mikasa watched as Yoni left the room obviously hurt and couldn't help but feel like an ass. 'I really made a mess out of things.'

Eren saw the whole thing. "What was that about?"

"Oh it's nothing, I guess she just wants to get to the wall as soon as possible."

Eren knew that was a lie. He wanted to see if Mikasa would tell him the truth. He knew everything. When Yoni saw his memories, he saw her's too.


	12. The Sealing

Much to their dismay, things only sped up once they got over the wall. There was no time rest at all. Between General Pixis planning for the wall sealing mission, and Hange trying to experiment on Eren, they barely had any time to themselves.

When the new soldiers got time to themselves it wasn't pretty. Eren and Mikasa had confirmed that they were together as a couple. Yoni tried her hardest to keep her distance from them before she got locked up, but her obligations made it difficult.

Today she had to meet with the military council and basically explained to them that she did not need to be killed. It didn't go well, once the council got wind of her being able to survive in titan an infested area, they believed that her generation had gotten too powerful. Armin was an integral part of getting the council to see reason. He said things along the lines of "Without her, the rest of our squad would have gotten eaten." They didn't seem all too convinced, so they postponed the verdict till another time.

"Now I have to train harder to control this. I can't give them an actual reason to kill me." Yoni thought to herself while she was chained to the pole in the courtroom. She was really close to rampaging when Armin almost got eaten. That can't happen again.

A military police guard unchained Yoni and led her back to her jail cell. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin went to visit her after the council decided Eren wasn't as big a threat as Yoni since she could control his transformation.

The three walked through the jail until they finally reached Yoni's cell. This was the first time they were actually allowed to visit her since she was taken into custody.

Yoni was in her cell doing close grip pushups when she heard some familiar footsteps.

"How are You doing Yoni?" Armin asked

"As good as can be expected." Yoni held up her handcuffed hands and kicked up her chained feet.

"Sorry, that was a stupid question." Armin rubbed the back of his head.

"I still don't understand why you're here and I'm not!" Eren grabbed the bars of the cell angrily.

"Well not all of us have the backing of a commander Eren." Yoni gave her friends a dim smile that made them uneasy. They could tell Yoni's spirit was closed to being crushed, her smile never got this dim.

"What's wrong Yoni? I mean other than You being locked up?" Armin asked.

"Have you guys seen Hannes." The three were surprised to hear this tone from Yoni. "I've been hearing that his squad suffered severe casualties, and I just want to know if he's alright."

"No, we haven't seen him." Eren finally let go of the bars.

Yoni sat down on her bed and leaned her head back on the wall. Mikasa saw a small tear form before Yoni quickly wiped it away. "I hope he's not dead."

Mikasa couldn't let her lose hope. "Of course he's not dead Yoni. I promise tomorrow he'll show up drunk off his ass somewhere." This solicited a laugh from everyone except Yoni.

"Your word doesn't mean too much to me right now." Yoni stated blatantly.

Yoni saw Mikasa recoil quickly. It was obvious that she was hurt by her statement.

Eren grabbed the bars like a Neanderthal again. "Oi Yoni what was that supposed to mean?!" Knowing full well what she meant.

"I'm sorry, I take it back." Yoni laid down on her bed facing away from her friends. "I think I'm just tired.

The three of them took the signal and left. As they were walking down the hall Armin couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. "What the hell was that about?"

Mikasa and Eren replied in unison. "It's a long story."

\--

The plan was set. Eren would use his Titan powers to seal the wall while everyone else protects him.

The cadets were up on the wall awaiting their orders when they saw a lift arrive at the top. Yoni and two military police guards stepped off.

The few soldiers that were there when Eren was in titan form, was sworn to secrecy and they understood that. However, no one knew why Yoni was being locked up? If anything she should be treated as a hero.

Yoni was decked out in all her gear but was handcuffed and gagged with a metal headpiece that kept her mouth shut. After they unchained her and everything, they gave her two measly blades and went on their way.

She gave the group a low smile.

Christa ran up to her and hugged her. "Yoni I heard you almost died like at least three times." Christa's smile did the trick. Yoni's smile brightened up in an instant.

"You know me, Christa, always causing problems for others."

Sasha took a break from the meat she was devouring to ask a question. "Yoni why are being locked up?"

Yoni wanted to tell them everything, but if she did, they would be at risk too. She looked over at her three friends to see them shaking their heads "No." Instead, Yoni just shrugged. "That's just how the world is."

The voice that she'd been longing to hear made itself heard. "Then why don't you change the world Yoni?"

Yoni searched frantically for the source until she saw him walking through the group of cadets. Yoni was so relieved that he survived.

Hannes looked at the battle-hardened Yoni and company and was proud. "If these kids survived that, then they could survive anything." He thought. He rounded up the four of them and took them to the side to talk.

Ymir, always the inquisitive one elbowed Christa. "Who's that guy?"

"That's Yoni's godfather, from Shingashina. He's been her father figure ever since her father went missing on a mission. He was best friends with her mother too."

"How do you know so much about her?"

"She told me."

Figuring that this was her chance to get some information that would answer the question she had about Yoni, she pressed on. "Do you happen to know how she can kill seven titans while injured, or how she killed a mountain lion with her bare hands? Anything along those lines that she told you?"

"Nope."

Ymir knew she was lying. "Were Yoni and Christa so close that she would lie to me? And so easily?" Ymir thought. She decided to leave it alone.

"So they only gave you two rinky-dink blades huh?" Hannes unsheathed a blade from her gear and snapped it easily in two. "If you had gone up against a titan with these…"

"They're trying to kill me." Yoni gave a small chuckle. "Serves me right for trying to survive in this world."

That statement sent chills up Hannes' spine. What happened to his godchild? Her usual optimistic charm had turned completely into cynicism.

Armin offered up his two cents. "They want her dead for what exactly? Because she killed seven titans? Mikasa killed more than that yet they're not trying to kill her."

"That's because they know what Mikasa is. She doesn't pose as much of a threat as Yoni. The government's knowledge on generations is very shallow." Hannes gave Yoni some actual blades. "There you should do just fine with those."

"Thanks, Oji." Yoni eyes were facing the ground, she didn't look up once.

Hannes glanced at the others hoping for some answers. He only got clueless shrugs from the three of them. He didn't know what else to do so he grabbed Yoni and pulled her into a hug.

At first, Yoni was shocked, but the familiar feeling of comfort swiftly washed over her. The smell of his jacket made her feel at home. She hadn't had a moment to sit and rest like this since the attack on Trost. She gripped the tips of his jacket with her fingertips and began playing with them like she used to when she was little. Everything during the battle started replaying through her head. Only now did Yoni realize that she had been through something traumatic. Kids weren't supposed to go through things like this and just be ok after. Yoni held back her tears, cause she knew this wasn't the time. Her friends needed her to be the cheery, happy-go-lucky person she's always been. She felt bad at how she'd been treating them, and how depressing she's been. She was going to change for herself and them.

"Thanks, Oji, I needed that." Yoni attached the blades Hannes gave her to her handles. She turned to her best friends and gave them a bright genuine smile.

The four of them smiled back, happy for their beloved friend's return.

The bell began ringing, signaling the start of the operation.

"Cadets report to your squad leaders."

Hannes stood and wished the kids good luck, he gave Yoni a kiss on the forehead. "Be safe." He ran off to his canon station.

Yoni looked back Mikasa and gave her a smile to let her know that all was forgiven.

Mikasa got the message. Obviously, they would need to talk about later in-depth, but for right now they didn't need any distractions.

Yoni put her hand out. "you guys remember our deal?"

"Hai!"

"Let's try not to break it this time." Her friends joined their hands in the center and gave each other determined looks while Yoni gave a smile.

The four of them joined up with their squad leader and awaited orders.

\--

Everything was going well until titan Eren started spazzing out.

The cadets were doing their best to protect Eren from titans when he suddenly dropped the boulder less than thirty feet from the hole. All the cadets except for Yoni stopped together on a roof. They watched with confusion as Eren slumped down on the ground, steam was escaping from his joints.

"What's going on with Eren?" Christa asked.

Jean was obviously upset. "I don't know but he better pull it together. If all this death was for nothing I'll kill him myself." He gassed of the roof to kill and approaching titan.

The sound of shingles popping off the roof behind them caught their attention. Yoni landed on the roof out of breath. Christa rushed to her side.

Yoni had blood splattered all over her. It wasn't titan blood but the blood because it would have steamed away. No, this was the blood of her squad. She was placed with an advanced garrison team. Not because she was an elite soldier, but because if she went on a rampage she could be dealt with swiftly. This squad was tasked with engaging head-on with the titans and lead them away from Eren. A suicide mission. Yoni was the only one who survived. Even more evidence that the government was trying to kill her.

Yoni looked at Eren, then the boulder, then back at Eren, and then back at the boulder. "Why the hell is Eren sitting down?"

"We don't know he just dropped the boulder and started steaming. We don't think he's gonna be able to move." Christa answered.

Angered by her friend's ineptitude, Yoni gassed on to Eren head, much to the disdain of her fellow cadets.

"Mate Yoni! He swung at Mikasa earlier, don't get to close!" Connie screamed.

Yoni looked back and saw Mikasa holding a bloody cloth on the side of her face.

Yoni stomped her foot on Eren's titan head, hoping that he was at full attention. "Oi bighead, what do you think you're doing? This is no time for rest. People are out here dying and you're here taking a nap?" She resumed the stomping on his head. "What kind of soldier are you?"

No response.

"So the tough guy approach didn't work? Let's try something different." Yoni knelt down and put her palm on Eren's head. A tiny yellow spark appeared, just like the last time she touched Eren's titan. A faint voice played in the back of her head. It sounded like Eren's but Yoni wasn't entirely sure.

"Yoni I'm sorry. I can't move, my body just shut down. I guess I'm not entirely used to this titan form yet. I'm such a waste. People risked their lives for this operation, and I can't fulfill my end of the deal."

Yoni took her hand off thus ending the correspondence. She gassed back to the roof and told the rest of them what was happened, minus the telepathic communication part.

Jean fired a red flare into the air, signaling that the operation could not be completed.

"What do we do now?" Christa wiped some of the blood off of Yoni's face, which got some strange looks from the rest of her friends.

Connie disregarded this interaction. "Should we start rescue operations of those who were distracting the titans?"

Yoni shook her head. "No, anyone in that direction is already dead. My squad was the last to perish. Going anywhere near that area is instant death." Yoni looked at the boulder. So close. The boulder was so close to the hole that is was almost painful to think about. Just a few more steps and they were golden. A crazy idea popped into Yoni's head. There was no guarantee that it would work, but she had to try. She hopped down and looked at the giant boulder. It was amazing the Eren could even carry it, this thing was huge. "Never mind that!" She thought. All she needed to do was get it close enough and give Eren enough time to regenerate so he could finish the job.

"Yosh!" Yoni bent her knees and hunched her shoulders down against the boulder, ready to push with all her might.

On the roof, her comrades were perplexed.

"Baka! Is Yoni feeling alright Mikasa? Ymir walked next to her and feigned concern. "Did Yoni hit her head on the way here?" A laugh escaped and cracked her concerned façade. "What does that idiot think she's doing?"

Mikasa pulled the bloody cloth away from her face and spoke through the pain. "She's about to show you why she's been locked up for the past few days."

Yoni let out a guttural yell that echoed throughout all of Trost, and pushed with all her strength, hoping that her generation would activate. She yelled louder and louder until she felt the ground underneath her began to give way.

The cadets on the roof watched as the ground under Yoni crack and shatter from the immense pressure from her feet. Instantly, a ginormous crater formed around her. It almost looked like the boulder moved just a little. Another yell came from the girl as the boulder moved, very slowly, yet smoothly. Inch by inch the boulder began to move.

The cadets couldn't believe their eyes. that puny girl was moving a boulder that a titan could barely carry.

Connie pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. "Oi, is Yoni actually moving that thing?" he sounded almost scared. "Is she a titan too?"

"No," Armin reassured. "This is her generation power."

Collectively the unknowing cadets said "NANI?!"

"Now isn't the time for explanations. We have to protect Yoni." Mikasa jumped off the roof. There was an onslaught of titans heading her way. Possibly from that scream, she gave earlier.

The cadets moved out and started disposing of the titans easily. Without a doubt, these were the top cadets of the 104th. Yoni heard movement above her, she wanted to look but if she lost focus it would be all over.

Once the cadets finished with the hoard of titans, they landed on the roof and looked down at Yoni. Her body was steaming from every crack, crevice, joint, and muscle. Yet she kept pushing. Her shouts turned from strong and enduring, to shallow and desperate. Yoni was reaching her limit and her comrades could see it.

Connie began cheering her on. "Oi Yoni don't stop now you're almost there!"

Christa joined in. "Let's go Yoni, ganbatte!"

Everyone else joined in, even Ymir. Yoni heard their words of encouragement and found the strength to push on. She pushed and pushed. The steam coming from her body intensified. Finally, the rock wouldn't move anymore. Yoni stood up as straight as she could, her eyes strained to look through the incessant clouds steam. As the steam cleared she saw the wall that she was pushing towards. A small smirk appeared on her face before her vision went black.

Her friends on the roof stopped their cheering and went down to a collapsed Yoni. Her body was still steaming, though not as badly. On one side of her face, you could see her teeth and some of her gum through her cheek. The soles of her feet were bloody. The remnants of her scorched boots flapped in the wind. Her skin was hot to the touch, so they made a makeshift gurney out of their jacket and carried her to an elevator rig. At this point, Eren was already out of his titan form but he couldn't move his body. Reiner being the pack mule he was meant to be carried him on his back.

One thought was in front of everyone's mind. They sealed the wall, but at what cost? Eren had failed to prove his usefulness and Yoni proved again that she was unpredictable.

What would become of their friends?

\--

\--

Hey guys, thanks for reading.

We finally get a glimpse of Yoni's generation power, however, it looks like there are some serious side effects.

The next chapter is the trial of Eren and Yoni. Will they be killed or put to work.

Again thanks for reading. Feel free to leave any comments and/or criticisms. Please follow and favorite, thank you.

Updates every Monday hopefully.


	13. The Trial

Ymir walked up to the steps of the courthouse. Along with everyone else, she was dressed in her green coat and tie. Christa walked a few feet in front of her. They weren't talking at the moment. After that whole thing with Yoni and the boulder, Ymir had actual evidence that Christa lied to her. She told Christa when the relationship first started, that she had severe trust issues. Yet Christa still lied to her. That hurt Ymir more than anything. Christa was the one person she could trust. This blew up into a really bad argument and now they're on a break and not speaking to each other. Ymir hated this but she needed some space, and Christa needed to figure out where her loyalty lies.

Yoni woke up to chains being put on her hands and feet.

"Come on, you're being called to the court." The military police guard dragged her out of bed and stood her up. Being that this was the first time she had been conscious since the boulder incident a month ago, Yoni wasn't able to stand on her own.

She dropped to her knees as quickly as a penny sinks in water.

The military police guard was disgusted. "Oi get up you useless piece a shit. Why they let you, people, up here is still a shock to me."

Yoni turned to him with a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

A painful, worried look admonished the guard's face. He quickly hit Yoni in the head with the butt of his rifle. "Forget I said anything. Now get up and walk."

Yoni did as commanded. With blood streaming down her head, she rose and stood on her numb feet. Thankfully the courtroom was right above them, so the walk wasn't long. Soon they were at the door to the courtroom. Along the way, four more guards joined. As they walked in, murmurs erupted in the courtroom. Through her metal headpiece she saw two poles in the middle of the room. Eren was chained to one of them and she assumed the other one was for her. To her right, she saw Armin, Mikasa and all others who were present that day of the sealing mission. To her left, she saw what looked like the uppity commander of the military police. She didn't care too much for him. In her last hearing, he petitioned very hard for Yoni to be put down. Next to him was a blonde man she had seen also at her previous hearing, however, she wasn't sure who he was. He wasn't very vocal there. Next to the blonde was a scary looking dude with the permanent scowl.

They nudged her to the pole and pushed her down and took off her headpiece. After they secured her to the pole she whispered to Eren. "How they treating you?"

"A lot better than they're treating you." Eren glanced up at Yoni open head wound. "What happened there?"

"You know, same old, same old."

Yoni looked straight forward and saw Commander in Chief Darius Zacklay. The only person that could preside over this case objectively. He pounded his fist on the table, signaling that he was ready to begin.

"I'll begin with Eren Yeager."

It was decided that Eren would be put in the scouts custody, under the close watch of Levi Ackemann.

"Now About Yoni Brevi. In custody because of her incredible destructive power. Killed seven titans while barely being able to walk, and sealed the hole in Trost." He looked up from his papers and addressed the commanders in the room. "What is the proposal of the military police?"

The Uppity Commander stood up and said his piece. "We the military police ask for custody of Yoni Brevi. Origins of her power are unknown and pose too much of a threat to humanity to be allowed to continue unchecked. We ask for custody so that we may preserve the safety of life in the walls." There was a whole lot of nodding heads throughout the courtroom.

"What say you, Commander Erwin?" Zacklay asked.

Commander Erwin stood. "We also ask for Yoni Brevi to be in the custody of the scout regiment. Her skills would be put to great use in the fight against the titans. As for her rampages, we are positive that intense training would make Yoni more able to control it. We plan to do the same with Eren. Hange will be heading up the experimental training, so they will be in good hands.

"Objection!" The military police commander was not having it. "it seems unlikely that the scout regiment will be able to handle two military weapons at one time. They can't even build a sustainable base outside the wall."

"Commander in Chief Zacklay. The military police think that just because something is unknown, that thing is dangerous. Once we understand the power of Yoni's generation it can become a great asset." Erwin said.

"the titans used to be unknown to us and they are dangerous., now that they are known to us they are still dangerous."

"It should be known that while her generation was activated, Yoni has not fatally harmed a member of the human race. She has in fact saved many lives. Her teammates can testify to that."

"Do you call tackling a former scout regiment commander to the ground and threatening to kill him saving lives?"

"Drill instructor Shadis reported that she was ok after he sprayed her with pepper spray. This is evidence that she can pacified if she ever gets to that state."

"This is speculation at this point commander in chief, who's to say that you'll be able to get close to her if you need to?"

"Who says we need to get close?"

"ORDER IN COURT!" Zacklay slammed his fist onto the table. "Ms. Brevi, I have just one question in the back of mind. This will have some sway in my decision, so answer truthfully." Yoni said yes sir, however, it sounded like mumbles to Zacklay. "Can someone take the headpiece off please, I can't hear a thing she is saying. Once the headpiece was off Zacklay began his question. "Yoni how were you able to kill five titans while you were separated from your squad? According to Armin's report, all your blades had fallen out when the titan took you into its mouth."

Yoni was dreading this question. Her answer would most likely sway the commander in chief over the military police's side. She paused and kept her eyes to the floor.

"Oi the commander in chief asked you a question." The military police officer behind her shoved her with the but of his gun.

"There's no need for any of that," Zacklay held up his hand. "I'm sure this is a touchy subject for her. I'll ask a more specific question. How were you able to get out of the titan's mouth?"

Yoni decided it was better to answer truthfully. "I broke its jaw."

The courtroom erupted into chaos. Shout coming from all around the room calling for her death.

"ORDER IN THE COURT!" Zacklay slammed his fist on the table once more and continued his questioning. "How were you able to kill the other ones?"

"I severed their napes." Yoni hoped that this ambiguity would be enough.

"You severed their napes with what? You didn't have any blades."

With her hopes crushed, she answered truthfully. " before I met up with the others, I managed to find some blades. Before that...I ripped them off with my hands." Her head lowered, knowing that she sealed her fate.

The courtroom was silent this time. Everyone in the room had on a look of horror, even the faces of her friends. Connie now understood what Yoni meant when she said you can do crazy things when faced with death. Still, he couldn't have expected this.

Even Yoni's closest friends had faces filled with apprehension, Christa had concern written all over her face. She couldn't even meet Yoni's eyes with hers. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin all had the same face of worry. Something told them that their friends weren't going to make it out of here alive.

"After hearing both sides, I'm placing Yoni Brevi in the custody of the military police. She's just too unpredictable to place in the already full hands of the scout regiment. This tribunal is adjourned" Zacklay took a somber look at Yoni. Her eyes were glazed over. He was sad that he had to end a young life so soon, but it was all for the good of life in the walls. She was too powerful, and unpredictable.

Eren wasted no time in yelling at Zacklay to let Yoni, however, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Reiner had to hold Mikasa back from storming the judge's table. Armin looked as if he was racking his brain to find a way out of this. It didn't look like he was having too much luck.

The military police were about to put back on the headpiece when General Pixis stood up and whispered something into Zacklay's ears. His face changed, as if he had heard something bizarre from the general. "Are you certain about this theory?" Zacklay whispered back. Pixis gave a sure nod.

Zacklay sat back down in his chair and called the tribunal back in session. "New evidence has come to my attention. There is speculation that Yoni's generation power can be harvested and studied. This could be a real step forward for life within the walls. I hereby authorize the experimentation on Yoni Brevi." he turned to the military police commander. "Make sure you get something useful. Get information by any means necessary." Pixis nodded to Erwin, who then nodded to Levi.

Eren couldn't believe his ears. "Oi don't tell me you're going to dissect her alive? Has humankind resorted to savagery?"

Captain Levi got quickly and jumped in front of Eren. "Will you shut up. It's ridiculous how loud you are." Levi put his foot on Eren's head and shoved him down to the ground. "I'm stuck with having to look over a brat like you?" Levi kicked Eren across his face so hard Yoni saw a tooth fly out.

"Captain Levi, what are you doing?" Yoni screamed. "Eren was cleared by the commander in chief."

"Yeah, he was cleared and put in our custody, so now I can do what I want with him." His assault on Eren intensified. His hits were drawing more blood with each one. The rest of the courtroom looked at the unfair exhibition match. Bertolt joined Reiner in holding Mikasa back. It had become a two-man job.

Yoni could feel it. Her rage. She could feel her consciousness being overtaken, but she didn't care. This short dude was really pissing her off. She was going to die anyway she really didn't care what happened next. She would take this asshole down with her.

Ymir looked on in awe as Yoni snapped her chains as if they were made of nothing. She was having some serious second thoughts about fighting this girl. Captain Levi jumped back at the scary sight of a woman scorned. Yoni and Levi had a stare-off. Her eyes were glowing green and a thick vein protruded for her forehead.

"Our hypothesis about the basis of her power is pure and raw emotion. However, this only happens when she or someone she cares about is in danger." Commander Erwin analyzed. "Thanks to Captain Hange, we may have ways to train her to activate it at any time. We also have a way to release her from her rampages." Commander Erwin reached down and pulled a weird-looking handgun that he threw to Levi. Not once did Yoni's eyes leave Levi. She made a slight bend in her knee indicating an impending forward step. Levi wasted no time.

POP!

What looked like a tranquilizer dart was imbedded into Yoni's chest. She was unfazed. After pulling out the dart and flicking it aside, she took the step that Levi interrupted. Levi's face remained calm and collected. He proceeded to discharge three more darts into Yoni. Her stance became wobbly, but she still stood tall. Levi shot the last dart and hoped for the best. This seemed to do the trick. Yoni's eyelids started to droop and her knees buckled. She was out like a light.

Commander Erwin cleared his throat. "Obviously we still have to work out the exact mixture ratio, but as you can see we have a way to control her. Again we ask for custody of Yoni. We're positive that we can turn her into the perfect soldier."

Zacklay thought this over. If he miscalculated here he would either create a threat for humankind or create the ultimate titan fighting team. "If you want to be great, you have to be willing to take risks." He thought.

"I'm granting the Scout Regiment custody of both Eren Yeager and Yoni Brevi." Her friends all breathed a sigh of relief. The military police officer was obviously frustrated. "I have one condition. Commander Erwin. If at one point either of the risks outweighs the gain, terminate the risk."

Eren knew that he was talking about him and Yoni. At least they would have the chance to prove themselves.

"The tribunal is now adjourned." Zacklay walked out of the room.

The MP Commander gave Erwin a scowl. "I will be filing an appeal." Mikasa and Armin came to Yoni's and Eren's side.

"How did you the tranqs would work?" Armin asked Erwin.

"We didn't. Let's get them to HQ. As soon as she wakes up we're going to train, then prepare for our next operation.

Levi walked up to Eren and Mikasa. "Sorry about that. We had to make it believable, so I couldn't hold back. It was the only way to get her to rampage." Mikasa just gave him a cold stare. She didn't appreciate people who took advantage of her friends. This wasn't the best first impression.

Soon, Eren, and Yoni were in the wagon heading to the abandoned castle the scouts called home.

Ymir was on her horse riding towards the castle. She wanted more than anything to talk to Christa who was on the other side of the wagon. However, she hadn't even looked in her direction once today. She was taking this whole "break" thing a little too well. Two weeks ago they decided along with the others to join the scout regiment. Ymir thought this would give them more time to spend together. She couldn't believe how wrong she was.

She looked into wagon next to her. Yoni was covered in a green blanket while she slept the day away. Christa was also looking down at Yoni, but with a worried look. She could feel her grasp on Christa slipping away. She gave herself a mental affirmation. "I won't lose her to anyone."


	14. A New Perspective

Mikasa walked down the hall of the Scout castle. It was unbelievably large, it had more than enough space for everyone. Due to the numerous doors, she couldn't remember which door was Yoni's. As she wandered around, she heard yelling coming from one of the rooms down the hall. Two voices were as clear as day, Christa and Ymir. Mikasa respected their privacy and walked past the door.

In time, she found Yoni's room. Mikasa opened the door slightly and looked to see if Yoni was awake. She was laying on her back with her eyes closed. Mikasa walked in and set down the red headband on the nightstand.

Yoni eyes shot open to the sound of footsteps. A skill she picked up since she got here. She knew a lot of the scouts didn't trust her or Eren. She looked up at Mikasa and smiled. Mikasa had on a white button-up collared shirt, a long beige skirt and her coveted red scarf.

"Arigatou Mikasa. I thought I lost it. I was afraid to face you." Yoni sat up and put back on the headband.

"I took it off you when they were about to lock you up. They might have confiscated it." Mikasa's head was aimed down, as well as her eyes. An awkward silence followed. It was as if the two friends didn't know how to interact around each other anymore.

"Can I just ask why?" Yoni threw the twists that were in her face over her head. "Why did you kiss me on that rooftop?"

Mikasa knew this question was inevitable, yet she still wasn't ready to answer. "Sorry, I'm being called to brush the horses." Mikasa took her leave.

Yoni knew that was a pile of horseshit.

Yoni plopped back down on her bed. It was weird having her own room. This was the first time. Even back when she lived with her parents, they all shared one room. Having her own room was cool and all, but she was having trouble sleeping soundly. She hated to admit, but being around other people makes her comfortable. This can most likely be attributed to her living situation at the orphanage.

Yoni looked down at her toes, she tried to wiggle them, but they were as stiff as wood. It seems the tranquilizers haven't worn off yet. She could move everything from her knees up. Yoni was beyond annoyed, it's been three days since the trial and she hasn't been able to walk. She was holding everybody back. She hadn't even begun this special training that the commander talked about.

She closed her eyes and tried to get some rest.

WHACK!

The sound of her door hitting the wall brought her to full attention. She was sitting up straight in her bed. A tall woman with short blonde hair and a nice undercut charged into Yoni's room. She had a bag in her hand

"Scout Brevi, you have been assigned to team Mike as of today. My name is Nanaba. As long as you do your part, we'll get along swimmingly." She took a deep breath indicating she didn't take a single breath when she was taking. "Now that we have the formalities out of the way, here." she dropped the bag in the middle of the floor. Only after Yoni did not attempt to reach it, she remembered that Yoni couldn't walk. "Oh sorry. My bad." She walked over and emptied its contents on the bed. New clothes. A dark navy blue shirt and dark brown waistcloth, and white trousers. A new Scout jacket also made an appearance, along with new green formal wear. Yoni felt warm inside. She was one step closer to finding her dad now that she was in the scouts.

A razor and scissors came out of the bag as well.

"Your current hairstyle isn't sustainable in the field. I can see that it takes an enormous amount of work to maintain. That will become a liability, Mike doesn't like liabilities. So cut it all of, lock it, twist it, or cut it short, shave it, do whatever you want. Just make sure it's not that."

"Arigatou Nanaba Senpai demo, I don't know how to cut hair."

"Figure it out." Nanaba walked out.

Yoni wanted to ask her if they had met before, she looked so familiar.

Yoni's shoulders slumped. She knew that her hair was beginning to become too much for her to deal with alone, however, the thought of cutting it was daunting.

A small blonde head poked into her doorway

Yoni was happy to see her face. "how much of that did you hear?"

"All of it." Christa walked in and sat at the foot of her bed. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I think I might cut it down to shoulder length. But that still a lot of hair to deal with."

"Why not get an undercut, like Nanaba Senpai? I think it would look good on you."

"Really?" Yoni rubbed her hand against the side of her head. "I have no idea how to do that though."

"I can help. I used to cut hair back on the farm. Undercuts were my specialty." Christa's smile caused a slight red tint on Yoni's cheeks.

"I would appreciate it."

Christa shuffled up the bed until she was sitting comfortably next to Yoni. The proximity cause Yoni's breath to become shallow. Christa took a twist in one hand and the scissors in another. "So, how short do you want it?

Yoni pointed to right below her shoulders.

SNIP. SNIP

Yoni watched the ends of her twists hit the ground. It was bittersweet.

Two hours later, Yoni's twists were pulled back into a ponytail, exposing her fresh undercut. Christa added the finishing touch by tying her head-on.

"Arigatou Christa. It took forever but we're finally done."

"No problem. It's nice spending time with you."

"Un, you were the most pleasant of all my interruptions today." A bout of laughter overcame Christa. As she came down, she had a bothered look on her face. "What's wrong?"

She took some time before answering. "Do you mind if I hang out here for a little while? There's someone I don't want to run into."

"Yeah sure. No problem. I could use the company." A smile returned to her face, then quickly dissipated. "You look like you need to talk."

Christa gave her a smiling side glance. She knew that she was referencing Christa from all those months back in the training corps. "Are you sure you're allowed." Christa looked at Yoni's stiff feet.

"Hey, I would take you on a walk if I could." They both laughed at this time. Her smile lingered a little bit longer.

"It's just that…ugh!" Christa flopped backward on the bed.

"I heard you guys arguing this morning. Is everything ok?"

"No!" Her voice was raised. Yoni knew it was directed at her, yet it still caught her off guard. "She's so controlling."

"I feel bad."

"Why would you feel bad?"

"Cause I asked you to keep what I told you a secret. Even someone you were close to."

"Still, that doesn't give her the right to get so overbearing."

"You knew she was overbearing before you got together." This stopped Christa in her tracks. "it's obvious that Ymir loves you. The only time I've seen her be a decent person is when she's with you."

"Still. She thinks she's entitled to know about everything in my life. I can't have anything to myself."

"I'm not saying any of that is ok, I'm just saying…I don't know what I'm saying."

Christa sat back down on the bed. Yoni face turned somber and wistful. "What's wrong Yoni?"

"Just, don't give up on love so easily. You'll regret it, I know I do." Yoni winced internally. She didn't want to reveal such personal information, even if it was Christa.

Christa was astonished. She knew Yoni had a thing for her, yet she was pushing her in the direction of Ymir. She cared more about Christa's happiness more than her chances to be with her. Christa never knew such love and friendship. Yoni's eyes started turning red. "It looks like you need to talk too."

Yoni chuckled, a small sniffle came after. "Nah, I've bothered you enough today."

Outside her door, Ymir quietly backed away, as to not make her presence known to the two friends that she had been there the whole time. _Yoni was actually speaking on my behalf to Christa. And she was being nice. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought._ Ymir walked down the hall and continued her duties.

"Mikasa hasn't come around yet huh?" Christa asked

Yoni smirked. "Christa Lenz, you never fail to surprise me."

Yoni explained her and Mikasa's awkward relationship. About both kisses and her responses. She told her about their encounter this morning. Yoni couldn't hide her blush as she retold the situations. Christa couldn't stop cringing, causing Yoni to blush even more.

"Yikes. I don't have any advice about this. I've never been in a situation like that." Christa said. "So, you love her?"

Yoni stayed silent.

"You don't sound too sure Yoni."

"I used to be so sure," Yoni said. "But when I saw easily she discarded me for Eren…I guess it put some things into perspective."

"What perspective is that?"

"Love is confusing and I'm better off without it."

"I disagree." Christa gave Yoni a soft kiss on the cheek. As she was leaning back, she caught Yoni's eyes and stopped suddenly. Yoni was blushing uncontrollably. She knew she was as well. Their faces were about four inches away from each other. Their eyes were darting back and forth from the eyes and lips of each other. Against her better judgment, Christa leaned inward and closed the gap by an inch. Not leaning all the way in to ruin everything, but enough to try and gauge what Yoni was thinking. Yoni leaned in the same amount of distance. Christa's heart skipped a beat. She'd never been this close to Yoni before. She smelled like cocoa butter and vanilla.

Each of them could feel the warm breath of the other. They became restless. They leaned in my quickly and smoothly, desperate to feel the other's soft lips. Soon their eyes closed and their lips were a centimeter apart.

DING DONG! DING DONG!

The bell for dinner had rung.

Christa's eyes shot open and she stiffened up like a board. The distance between them didn't change. Words can't explain how awkward things just got. Yoni opened her eyes to find a blood-red Christa.

Christa hopped off the bed so fast, she created a breeze. "Uh, it's dinner time…I have to check the hot, I mean the fine." She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "I have to check the food." Christa wasn't even assigned to food duty, she just needed to get out of there. She hadn't been that flustered in a while.

Yoni dropped her head into her palms. _What the hell is going on?_

The Next Morning

Team Mike walked down the hall to finally meet their recruit. They were so anxious. So far Nanaba was the only one that's seen her since then. From what she said, it looked like they had a good soldier on their hands. She looked strong enough. Reports say that she knows her way around some blades. Still, she would need to be trained in team Mike formations and attack styles.

Finally, they were at Yoni's door. They could hear the bed creaking with rhythm. The six of them froze, red spots appeared on their cheeks.

"Do we go in?" Lynne asked.

"Maybe we come back later?" Henning had her palms covering her cheeks. You could still see how red they were though.

Squad Captain Mike was out of his element. He knew about fighting titans, not...this. "Uh..." Nike steeled himself, however, the red tinge on his cheeks didn't go away. "If she can move she can work." Mike put his hand on the doorknob, he tried to mask his trembling, but to no avail. He swung open the door. "RECRUIT BREVI! WHAT IS GOI..."

Mike was speechless. Yoni was in midair over the bed with a smile on her face, totally unaware of his presence. She landed and jumped up again. The rest of the team filed in. When they saw Yoni jumping on the bed, they couldn't contain their laughter. She was a kid after all

Yoni with her concentration broken miscalculated her landing and ended up knocking straight into Mike. Mike, being the immovable tower that he is caught her and set her down.

Yoni's face was full of embarrassment. First impressions were key, and she just showed them that she was an idiot. She couldn't help herself though. She was able to walk, jump, run. She was able to move and she needed to be able to express that.

She stood at attention as soon as she got up.

"I like the new look Brevi." Nanaba gave Yoni a thumbs up. "I see you took my advice."

"Hai." Yoni was as stiff as a board.

"Lighten up Brevi," Gelgar said. "We just came to introduce ourselves. We can see that you're busy, so we'll leave you to it."

"MATE!" That came out a lot louder and harsher than Yoni wanted it to. "I...I have something to show you."

They followed Yoni out her room, down the hall, all the way to the kitchen.

"Yosh! It's finished." Yoni grabbed some oven mitts and pulled a beautiful cake out of the oven. Squad Mike was shocked. "I guess this is sort of a thank you gift for allowing me to be on your squad." Yoni held the cake up, while she held her head down.

"A soldier never bows her head." Lynne took the cake from Yoni with a smile. "Let's eat, I'm starving."

Nanaba followed her out of the kitchen. "Lynne, we literally just came from breakfast."

"What's your point?"

They were back in Yoni room. It was the place they could eat without anyone seeing them. How they got there without anyone noticing is still a mystery. Yoni sliced up the cake and handed then to her team.

Nanaba's eyes turned into sparkles. "Segoy! Yoni, you made this?"

"Hai!"

Lynne was in her own world. "This tastes just like squad captain Nolan's"

Yoni froze. The rest of Team Mike froze too, hoping Yoni didn't catch on.

"You guys knew my father?"

Mike let out a sigh. "We were going to tell you sooner or later, but I guess now is as good a time than any. Your father practically raised us. He took us off the streets of Shingashina and took us into his home. He asked for nothing in return, only that we become all that we could be. The six of us wanted to be like him, so when we were old enough we joined the military. He wasn't too happy about that, but he got over it. Sooner or later he got promoted to squad captain and we were his new team. Things couldn't be better. Five years later he met your mother Lillete. She was so compassionate and warm. She made you feel like you've known her your whole life. We were a family before we knew it. Lillete got pregnant, and we were expected a new addition to the Squad Nolan." The six of them laughed. They remembered what a joyous time that was when Nolan told them they were getting a little sibling. "Then you were born. You were so cute it was unbearable. At a young age, you resembled your mother so much we thought you were a clone. We tried to be in your life as much as possible but, we had to make up for the loss of the scouts two best soldiers. Once in a while, we would come around. We were lucky enough to catch your first steps." A sad look came over him and the rest of the squad as if they knew what he was going to say next. "Three years later, Lillete was called to the front and...well you know what happened. "Nolan changed after that. It was understandable, he lost the love of his life. Two years later he was called into active duty suddenly, he barely had time to say goodbye. He went on a solo expedition, totally unheard of. He wouldn't allow us to go with him. The next day we dropped you off at that horrible orphanage. We hated it, we knew how horrible that place was, but there was nowhere else. We had some comfort knowing that Hannes was there too. The plan was to check on you periodically, but it became virtually impossible. The expeditions came faster and lasted longer. We never made it back. That was our greatest regret." Mike's head drooped a little.

Feeling like he couldn't continue, Nanaba picked up for him. "When we heard you had graduated from the cadet corps, we requested that you be put on our team." She had tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy to see you. We assumed the worst when were heard what happened in Shingashina. All we could do was wait."

Henning chimed in. "After Nolan disappeared, we tried to get authorization to go search for him, but we couldn't.

"I knew you all looked familiar." Tears stained Yoni's cheeks as she looked up. "Big bro Mike, you always used to carry me on your shoulders. Nanaba nee-san taught me how to throw a punch. Lynne nee-san always used to take my food. Thomas and Gelgar taught me how to read and write. Henning tried to teach me how to play the harmonica, but I hated it."

Henning chuckled. "So, you remember us?"

"I remember you guys. You disappeared so suddenly that I thought I made you guys up. I haven't thought about it since. After I got to the orphanage I looked back and you were gone."

Mike finally composed himself. "I sorry things ended up like this."

"I'm not a kid anymore. I understand things get complicated. Hannes did a good job taking care of me, and I made some friends. I'm just glad you guys are real after all."

Mike put his abnormally large on Yoni's head lovingly. "We're glad you found your way back to us."

"Mochiron, Aniki." She wiped away her tears and smiled brightly.

All the hearts in the room were full of warmth and joy.

"Are we allowed to use supplies like this?"

"Shhh," Mike held a finger up to his mouth. "It'll be a family secret."


	15. The 57th Expedition

Everyone was on their horses waiting for the gate to rise, signaling the beginning of the Fifty-Seventh expedition.

Mikasa couldn't stop worrying. She was nowhere near any of her friends. Eren's location was being kept from everyone, Armin was in the outer middle section of the formation, and Yoni was on the support squad until they were out of the city, then she would be on the outermost section of the search formation, the right flank. The most dangerous place to be in the formation.

Yoni…

Mikasa got a headache whenever she thought about her. Yoni avoided her like she was the plague. It's not like she could blame her. Mikasa hasn't exactly been the best person to her. She played with Yoni's feelings and didn't think twice about it. She essentially pushed her away. Because of her, Yoni distanced herself. Eren and Armin hardly see her anymore. She usually spends her time training with her new "family". That team Mike. She didn't like them one bit. They appear out of nowhere, claiming to know Yoni's father and be her long lost family. Mikasa didn't trust them at all.

"FORWARD!" Commander Erwin

Mikasa hid how startled she was. She was so deep in thought that she didn't even hear the war cry that was echoing around her.

The gate raised, and the scout regiment was off.

They rushed through Karanes district. Mikasa looked at the desolate town. Broken window, destroyed walls, detached roofs. She wondered if this was what Shigashina looked like now. A cold tingle ran up and down her back, as the ground trembled beneath the hooves of her horse.

"Ten Meter approaching!" Hange screamed.

Mikasa swung her head left. Where was the support squad? That titan is close to the formation.

The sound of ODM gas gave her an answer. Two soldiers appeared in the air around the titan. One shot his cables low and cut the Achilles tendon of the titan. Bringing it to its knees. The next soldier tied the titan up in his cables, pinning it to the ground. A third soldier came out from behind some buildings and slashed it nape so deep you could see its spinal cord.

Yoni stood on top of the titan's head. Her eyes glowing a faint green.

Mikasa checked for all the signs of an oncoming rampage. Her eyes were green but there wasn't any change in her veins. Meaning she could now control the blood flow to a certain extent, thanks to the ingenious training Hange developed. Developed is a strong word. She more or less stumbled upon the realization when she was catapulting rocks at Yoni. Instead of focusing on the emotional side, Hange decided to focus on the physical, which was more her forte anyway. By controlling her blood flow Yoni can activate her generation, however only for one minute before she begins to lose control. Once she feels her blood quickening, she deactivates. She's only able to use it again after half an hour or so.

"Seven meters coming from the right!" Hange screamed again.

Mikasa looked right. Another one?! We've only been riding for 10 minutes.

Yoni jumped off the titans head and soared over the horse-riding scouts at a ridiculous speed. She somersaulted in midair with her knees in her chest, and two feet kicked the titan in the head. Sending him flying backward nearly 30 feet, leveling anything that was in its way. Steam rose up from the disintegrating giant.

Nanaba flew up and snatched Yoni from the air. When they landed Yoni dropped to her knees, gasping for air. Right then and there Mikasa wanted to hop off her horse and be by her side. She restrained herself. She was sure Yoni wouldn't exactly be welcoming.

Hange was star struck. "Segoy. Eren and Yoni might be our saving grace after all. Ne Mikasa?"

Mikasa nodded.

Yoni caught herself after a gulp of water. She hopped off the roof and whistled for her horse. She fell in a few paces behind Mikasa, waiting for the next titan sighting. Mikasa looked back at Yoni. She was alert but you could she was a little winded. Mikasa hardly recognized her. Her hair was different, her body was different. Does she even remember me-

Yoni caught her glance and gave her a heart-stopping smile. It was warm enough to make Mikasa forget that her life could end at any moment. She returned a smile equal in warmth. How is she able to forgive so easily? Mikasa knew that she couldn't put off having that conversation any longer. It wasn't fair to Yoni.

Yoni broke the interaction as she gassed off her horse to face an oncoming titan.

THE PUSH TO SHINGASHINA

The made it out of Karanes district with no casualties. Thanks to the excellence of the support squad. It was time for them to fan out into their search formation.

Yoni rode through the grasslands, alert and focused. They put me on the right flank huh. And by myself no less. Even Commander Erwin has no say in where he puts me. The government really wants to kill me. Yoni smiled. I won't give them the satisfaction.

Yoni spotted a titan one hundred feet to the right. It hadn't noticed her yet. She shot a red flare and headed in the opposite direction. When the others shot flares in response, she only then realized how far war she was from everyone. If she sped up any, she would break the formation and titans would get through.

Another titan straight ahead, fifty feet this time.

Yoni halted immediately and shot a flare. What are those guys doing up there? They should have seen this one. It didn't notice her yet, for which Yoni was thankful. She rode away at full speed, hoping not to catch its attention.

30 Minutes Later

Yoni hadn't spotted a titan in almost half an hour. Which was weird for them being in titan home turf. She had following the instruction of the green flares set by commander Erwin, and the red ones from the scout ahead of her. It seems like they were finally getting the hang of their job. Hopefully, all expeditions could be like this-

CRASH!

A titan smashed its way through some trees and stopped right in front of Yoni. It was on all fours like an animal. It had sharp talons the length of Yoni's horse. Its blood reds eyes bored a hole through Yoni. She was finally freed of this hypnotism when its sleet black hair swept in front of its eyes. Unlike Yoni's, this titans smile brought no comfort. Only fear.

Yoni's horse reeled back, hoping to buck Yoni off and make a break for it. Yoni wasn't letting go, you needed a horse to survive outside the walls. And this was her only horse.

She needed to think quickly. There was no way she could outrun this kind of titan without getting a head start. Those situational analysis sessions with Lynne nee-san were starting to pay off. Yoni shot a red flare into the Aberrant titan's eye, causing a harrowing, retching roar. She didn't stick around to hear any more of it. She ran between its legs and continued in the same direction she was heading. If she had run the other way she would break the formation, and there would be no way to get back up if she needed it. Who was she kidding, of course, she would need it. Having Mikasa with her would have been ideal. Sure Yoni improved a lot in her training with Team Mike, however, Mikasa was still leagues ahead of her in combat prowess.

There was no time to whine. The titan was catching up with her and quick. Yoni looked behind her. The titan ran like a four-legged animal. Legs and arms off the ground at different times. The titan was always balanced. So that ruled out pursuit maneuver one, two and three. Four would be the only feasible option. There was a small oncoming patch of trees. This would give her some advantage.

Yoni led it in the direction of the trees and slowed her pace down just a little giving it more time to catch up.

The titan was right on her. It raised its hand, ready to crush Yoni, but she had other ideas. She leaped off her horse and shot her cable into the titans' armpit. She swung herself around until she was in the air over its nape. Here comes the kill shot. Yoni shot her cables into it nape and gassed to end the titan. Before she could reach close enough. The titan grabbed her with its other hand and brought her to its face. Before he could get a taste, Yoni cut through its hand.

The titan looked down at the little human. They just looked at each other. Its red eyes to her green ones. Its smile never once leaving its face. It charged full speed at Yoni. Yoni jumped up giving the titan space to crash into some trees before she rocketed off a branch.

55 seconds

She ran away at full speed. Her craters were more linear because her energy was being focused on propelling her forward. The aberrant titan was an arm's reach from her. She knew she couldn't keep up this pace for long.

32 seconds

She should have caught up to someone by now. She understood that she lost some ground during the standoff, however, the distance shouldn't be this great. She looked back at the titan and realized how bloody its mouth was. Had it tore through the entire right flank? Is that why all those titans were getting through. The thought terrified her.

10 seconds

She was running out of time. She knew she would eventually, but she was holding out hope that she would have caught up with some people. There was no around for miles.

3 seconds

She was losing control of her blood flow. She could feel it. Her blood was quickening. Die or rampage? How about neither.

-2 seconds

The pain was excruciating. She could feel the blood rushing out her nose. She willed her blood flow into submission, causing an extreme amount of pain to course through her body. She almost passed out from the pain. She knew she couldn't keep this up. She needed a Hail Mary.

-5 seconds

Yellow and red streaks of, what looked like lightning cracked all around her body, and steam started escaping from her joints. That can't be good. Her body was going to give out. It was now or never.

Yoni spun on her heels and face the titan. It's smile still present and big. Yoni got ready to jump. Her knees bent ninety degrees, the ground beneath her was cracked beyond repair. The lighting became brighter and more lasting. The steam rose from her body like she was boiling water. She jumped straight ahead towards the titans face, finally giving the earth some relief. She crashed through the titan's teeth and came out the other side of its nape. She had no more energy so she had to settle for a crash landing.

Her eyelids were heavy, her body hurt in every conceivable place. Her eyes drifted to the aberrant titan. A human-sized in its nape emitted steam to no end. Her eyes drifted again. They landed on a red ball. It looked so out of place, Yoni almost wanted to laugh. A gust of wind blew, revealing its true nature. An eyeball. Yoni's breathing stopped. She blinked, making sure she had both of her eyes. Her fear didn't end there. Why was there an eyeball? Before she could construct an answer, she felt vibrations in the earth.

Three Titans were on their way over to her. Kuso! She tried to get up, but her body wouldn't listen. She couldn't move a muscle. This is how it ends huh? Eaten alive? Pathetic. I didn't get to tell Christa how I feel, I didn't want her to go back to Ymir, and I wished I kissed that time back in my room. I didn't get to tell Mikasa that I've moved on and I wish her and Eren the best and that I'll always love her and I miss us being close. I wish I could tell Armin to seal the deal with Annie already. I wish I could see papa.

As if it felt good to think all of those things, tears of relief flowed down her face and into the earth.

The titans were close, Yoni's time was running out, for good this time. No one would even know she died, no one would witness it. Even Yoni didn't wasn't to witness it. She closed her eyes and prepared for the end.

A harsh growl came out of nowhere. Yoni's eyes fluttered open. A small titan came and tore the much larger titans to shreds. Its ferocity was bone-chilling. After it was done, yoni was sure she was next. Instead of eating her, the titan picked her up. When it touched her, a spark appeared and disappeared.

"Ymir?" Was all she could muster before she passed out.

Christa was in one of the more safe areas of the formation. Closest to the center and one of the last riders on the right. She heard thumps and looked to her right. A titan running on all fours with a person in its mouth. Christa reached for a flare but fumbled it. The titan was upon her in seconds.

The titan took Yoni out of her mouth and put her on Christa's horse.

"Yoni!"

The titan reached down and caressed Christa's face.

Christa went still. There was only one person on earth who did that to her. Her brows were furrowed with anger as she rode away. _Ymir has a lot of explaining to do._


	16. The 57th Expedition Part 2

**Sorry for the 2 week lapse. I was really sick, and I'm getting ready to go back to college. So I've been pretty busy. while I'm in college I don't know how frequent updates will be. Please bear with me. Again sorry for the wait.**

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**Thanks for reading.**

Christa brought Yoni to the nearest cart. Squad captain Mike was in charge of this section. He saw the state Yoni was in and immediately left his post. He hopped into the cart and checked her pulse. Relief washed over his face as he felt a weak pulse. "They've already started huh?" Tears rolled down his face as he held her close. He turned to the cart driver. "I'll take over from here, please take over Christa's position."

"HAI!"

When the rider was gone, Mike turned to Christa. "Thank you for bringing her here. This may be the safest place for her."

"What do you mean?"

Mike pondered on whether to tell her or not. She looked trustworthy, however, looks like that proved to be a façade more times than he could count on other occasions. He decided he would take a chance. He was only one man, he would need help if he wanted to protect Yoni. He knew Christa cared for her or else she wouldn't have saved her. "Someone is trying to kill her." He laid Yoni back down and drove the cart forward. Christa followed.

"Well don't we already know that. The government had been trying to get rid of her since forever."

He answered without even looking at her. "Someone within the Scout regiment wants her dead."

Christa was shocked. _How could be? I thought everyone in scouts welcomed her with welcoming arms. Especially after she started improving on her control._ She thought it better not to ask this, figuring Mike had already thought the same thing. "Do you know who wants to kill her?"

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure. I don't it to be who I think it is."

Christa figured she wouldn't be privy to that information and she understood why.

"You're the only one I've told about my suspicions, please keep this quiet or else I won't be able to narrow down suspects"

"Of course Squad captain."

A hawk appeared in the sky. Mike held his hand out to receive it. "Kuso! I'm being called to the front by Commander Erwin."

"This could just be a trap to get you away from Yoni, Squad captain."

"I know, but if I don't go they'll realize I'm onto them and blow my investigation." He squeezed the paper in his fist. "I leave it to you, Christa."

"Eh!? Demo-"

"Now is not the time!" He interrupted. He untied his horse from the cart and hopped on. Before he rode away he relayed an important message to Christa. "Keep yourselves hooded. Trust no one."

Christa tied on her horse and drove cart along to keep in formation. She looked back at Yoni. _Does she have any idea how much danger she's in? There's so much going on. There's a traitor who killed the titans Hange was experimenting on, a traitor that's trying to kill Yoni, and Ymir might be a titan shifter. My life used to be so simple before that fat man showed up at the farm._

The ground's rumbling shook her from her thoughts. It was getting continuously louder. Christa looked to where the sound was coming from. A sixteen-meter titan running full speed towards her. Black flares went off behind the titan, unnecessarily making it known that this one was a variant. Christa saw a scout get trampled as he fumbled to shoot a flare. The sound of his bones breaking was drowned out by the titan's heavy steps. Christa snapped forward and urged the cart to its fullest speed. It wasn't nearly enough to shake this titan, but it was something. She sped into a small patch of trees to try and shake it attention. The titan didn't take the bait. The sounds of oak trees snapping like twigs underneath the titan's feet terrified Christa to no end.

So the titan was right over them Christa could finally notice its features. It had blonde hair down to its shoulders. And grayish-blue eyes. She would have thought it looked like Armin if it wasn't for the titan's feminine physique.

The titans stepped centimeters away from the cart, sending it flying, along with Yoni and Christa. Christa's quick reflexes allowed her to grab Yoni by arm and pull her close as they rolled on the hard ground.

POP!

Yoni's eyes shot open in pain. Her shoulder was dislocated. She was about scream when Christa clamped a hand over her mouth. _Why is Christa here? Why does my shoulder hurt? Wait...I'm alive?_

Christa's arms were wrapped around Yoni tightly. Yoni still didn't have complete mobility, so all she could do was stay still and bear through the pain. In any other instance, being this close to Christa would be heaven on earth.

Christa was on the alert. She hadn't heard the titan however, she wasn't so sure that it had left. She hooked her arms underneath Yoni's armpits. Yoni recoiled in pain. Her eyes were red, sue to her trying to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry Yoni. Please bear with it." Christa whispered

Yoni bit down on her lip as to not let any sound escape.

Christa leaned her up against the few remaining trees. She was looking over her shoulders like she was a wanted woman.

"What's going on Christa?"

"You mean besides being off out horses in titan country?"

Yoni gave her an unimpressed look. "You think now is the time for sarcasm?"

"There's a variant titan after us."

Yoni rested her head up against the tree. "That's the second one today. Just your luck Christa. I told you I always give people a hard time."

"Ssshhh" Christa looked behind her once more. "I'll go check to see if it's gone."

Yoni stopped her before she could leave. "Any sign of trouble, take off. I can manage here, I'll just be dead wei-."

"Don't waste your breath, I'm not leaving you here." Christa peaked around the tree before she headed out.

Yoni heard her footsteps slowly grow further away. Suddenly her footsteps became louder and faster. Before she could perk her head up to see what was going on, she was tackled. She was flat on her back with hands over her mouth again. The pain was unbearable, tears rolled down Yoni's temples.

Christa felt bad but there was no time to explain. The titan was less than thirty feet away, and it looking for them. She pulled their hoods over them and covered the both of them in a green blanket she hoped that this conceals them in the high grass. She made herself as flat as she could on top of Yoni. She wished that she also on the ground so they wouldn't stick out as much however, it was too risky to move at this point. Maybe the titan would think they were a moss-covered log or something.

Yoni could feel the heat now. Literally. It was at least 90 degrees underneath that thick blanket. Christa's body heat wasn't helping anything. Their awkwardness furthered the temperature problems as well. Whenever their eyes met it get one degree hotter. Whenever Christa adjusted herself, Yoni burned what felt like ten degrees hotter.

Leaves crunching beneath feet isn't usually a sound people fear. However, when the feet are attached to sixteen-meter titan it's a different story. The large being walked around and around until it finally stopped right next to where the two scouts were hiding. The titan squatted down next to them.

Christa felt the blanket slowly lifting off her and Yoni._ Shit. It found us. Think. Think!_ nothing came to mind, no matter how hard she thought. This is it.

The blanket was off. Yoni looked past Christa until her eyes were locked with the titans. A small smirk on its face. A smirk she's seen before, but couldn't quite place. Its blonde hair and grey eyes were both familiar

The titan reached down with its index finger and thumb, ready to pick off Christa.

Yoni's mind almost went dark, but she controlled it. She flipped her and Christa over, dug her hands deep into the earth and grabbed ahold of some tree roots.

Christa was amazed. She's seen Yoni's generation power before. But she'd never seen it up close and personal like this. The green glow in her eyes made Yoni almost unrecognizable.

The titan grabbed yoni and pulled. Yoni stayed put. The titan pulled again. Yoni remained unmoved. The titan grew frustrated and pulled harder. The sudden increase of strength in the pull almost tore Yoni loose, but she kept her grip.

Christa watched this amazing tug of war battle._ I need to help in any way I can._ Christa shot her cables into the same tree, and wrapped her arms and legs around Yoni and held on for dear life.

Yoni was surprised at the contact, but she was more surprised at Christa's quick thinking. She wanted to help in any way that she could. _I won't let her down._

The air around them became heated. Christa looked at Yoni and saw steam escaping from the side of her mouth. Yoni tried to brush it off with a smile, which only made her look more ominous.

The titan was pulling and pulling. Christa's back was off the ground nearly a foot, and Yoni's arms were fully extended. She was holding on for dear life.

Time was almost up. Yoni could feel it. Her time was cut short, due to her overdoing it with the aberrant titan. She could feel blood trail out her ears. "Gomen Christa. I can't hold on for much longer." A flash of lightning flashed above her head.

She put a hand on Yoni's cheek. She didn't need to say anything to get her point across. Her eyes said it all.

The look Christa gave Yoni made something crack inside of her. Tears welled up in her eyes._ She trusted me to keep her safe. I failed her. She's going to die because of me._

As if she could read minds Christa finally spoke. "don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. The universe has always been cruel."

Her words brought Yoni back to when she thought those words herself. When she saw her basket floating back into Shingashina. A tear dropped from her face and landed on Christa's face.

Christa giggled a little bit. "Your such a crybaby Yoni." A smile graced her face.

Yoni couldn't believe she could be like this when death was staring her in the face. Yoni steeled herself. She would be brave too. _Should I tell her how I feel? We're going to die anyway. I won't have to live with the embarrassment if she rejects me._

Blood was coming out of her nose now. She had surpassed her limits again.

"Christa..."

"Yoni conserve your strength!"

"Iya! I need to tell you this." She had her full attention now. "Back in my room that time...when I said you should get back with Ymir. I don't want you too. I want you to be with me. I wished we'd kissed back then too. You've always been there for mem without fail. I just want you to be happy, even if it's not with me. I'm sorry your life's getting cut short because of me."

Christa didn't get a chance to respond. Yoni was yanked away from her grasp. "YONI!" She screamed for her friend to be back in her arms. She wanted to hold her and tell her she felt the same. But this chance was taken from her by this monster. Anger burned through her as she saw the titan dangle Yoni it's opened mouth. She pulled cables out of the tree, ready to fight to the death.

Suddenly the titan was impaled with a huge spike, then six more. The titan released Yoni from her grip. Christa gassed up and grabbed her without hesitation.

Yoni's felt immeasurable pain, her vision was blurred, and her ears were ringing. She could see specks on tree branches, that she figured to be scouts. Drops of water fell on her face. _Is it raining? Iya, rain isn't this salty._ She tried to focus her vision, but she settled for a pixelated version of her friends. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and Christa kneeled over her. Their eyes were like water basins. Yoni felt peaceful. If these were her final moments she was glad she got to see the people she held dear.

"AAAH!" Yoni began convulsing in Christa's arms. All the pain she felt in her life didn't compare to what she was feeling now. Her heart felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly. Her skin felt like she was being set on fire. Her head felt like it was getting hit with cannonballs. A gray liquid poured out where blood should be. She could see the blurred figures around her becoming frantic The world around her became black and quiet. She welcomed it, anything to release her from this pain.


	17. Chapter 17

IN THE FIELD

"I wish we could be there when she woke up." Christa said as she rode her horse.

"We've been summoned to the capital, it's better to leave her there considering they don't really like her at the capital. If we finish up our mission quickly then we can get back there before she comes to." Mikasa added.

"Hai. Squad captain Hange said that she wouldn't be up for a while. Iron poisoning is pretty serious, it's a miracle she survived." Christa hung her head low. She remembered the events that transpired weeks before. Them fending off the titan that they now suspect to be Annie_. There's just so much I want to tell her. Is she really safe back at headquarters? There are still people after her_.

Ymir pushed through the formation and budged in next to Christa. "Can we please talk Christa. This is becoming childish now."

Christa promptly ignored her and charged forward, leaving Ymir in the dust.

Ymir hung her head in defeat.

"Trouble in paradise?" Eren said with a snicker.

"Mind your business Eren." Ymir went back to her spot in the formation.

"What's going on with her?" Armin asked.

"Christa and Ymir have been on and off since we joined the scouts. I'm sure this is just another one of their phases." Mikasa reassured.

Armin gave his sore backside some relief as he rearranged himself on his saddle. "I'm not too sure about that this time. It looks pretty serious."

"Well, Ymir said it was none of our business so that's that." Mikasa ended that discussion. "I hope Yoni feels better soon."

"I'm sure she's fine. Yoni's not the same weakling from when we were younger, you know. Eren said. "I mean she's still a crybaby, but everything else about her is different."

They all laughed. It was a nice moment between friends. However, it wasn't the same without Yoni.

SCOUTS HEADQUARTERS

A few days later

Yoni's head was spinning. She'd been lying in bed awake for ten minutes, unable to focus her vision. She woke up a week ago, but the pain was so much that she was forced back into her previous comatose state. Today she was able to move around her limbs with little pain. _Maybe I can walk today? _She slipped her feet out from underneath the blankets. A crisp breeze blew through the window and gave her leg a tingly feeling. She stood up from the bed and cracked her neck, which was much needed since she hasn't moved in such a long time. She saw a piece of paper on her nightstand, from Christa. Yoni felt apprehensive. Her memory of that day was perfectly intact. She remembered exactly what happened and exactly what she said to Christa. It had been in the heat of the moment, but she meant what she said. Yoni was somewhat thankful for her predicament because she didn't have to deal with the repercussions of what she said.

The note read:

Hi Yoni. A group of us decided to write this note in case you woke up before we returned from the capital. Somehow I ended up writing it alone. Anyway, I'm glad you're up. I hope you feel ok. We should be back by the end of the week.

The 104th

Yoni set the note back on the table. _She didn't even bring it up. Crap crap crap. She hates me now. Why do I always do these crazy things? I did the same thing with Mikasa and look where that got me._

Yoni put her head in her hands. _Another friendship ruined because of my stupid feelings. _She looked up at the calendar. Today was Friday. Her friends should be coming back tomorrow_. Great I get to deal with all that awkward tomorrow._

Yoni figured that she should try to stand. She was sitting up straight on her own, which was a good sign, she was having trouble mustering up the strength to stand herself up. Again and again, she tried to push herself off the bed. So much it began to make her dizzy and tired. Yoni came to the conclusion that this wasn't going to happen today and laid down in her bed. All that sudden movement made her nauseous to an unheavenly degree. Her eyes went blurry as she threw up her insides into the bucket beside her bed. It was silvery and had a gross metallic smell. It was enough to make her throw up again. However, she calmed her stomach and managed to fall asleep. She would try that walking thing again tomorrow.

The Next Day

The ringing bell echoed throughout the castle, signifying that the scouts had returned from their journey to Stohess district. Yoni winced as she sat up. Her lower back was sore from all that movement yesterday. The stone floor was warm today. She was ready to try and stand up again when she saw that the bucket was clean. Also next to the bucket was a cane. _Aniki? _Yoni smiles and grabbed the cane. She propped it up between her legs, gripped the top of it with all her natural might and pushed down. She was up. Standing on her own two feet. Yoni breathed a sigh of relief. She took a step forward and felt her whole body tilt to the side. She was falling and she couldn't stop it. A set of small yet strong hands stopped her fall.

"Connie!" she helped Connie back upright. "What are you doing up here already?"

"I really needed to pee. Riding that horse didn't help at all."

"I didn't need to know all of that."

"I see you're still recovering."

"Yeah, it's a process I guess. This is the first time I've been able to stand up."

"Sounds like you need a pick me up. Come outside everyone's down there." Connie walked towards the door. "They need a smiling face after what they've seen."

Yoni was concerned now. "What happened in Stohess?"

"It's a lot." With that, Connie walked out the door.

Yoni took baby steps out the door. She was annoyed at Connie. He just witnessed her fall and didn't even offer to help her walk. She imagined what he would say. "That's what the cane is for." Yoni chuckled to herself.

Finally, she made it to the front door. Wobbly and all. She could hear everyone's outside. _I wonder what they're chattering about. _As she pushed open the door, she was flooded with light. The chattering stopped. It took a while for her eyes to adjust. Eventually, she saw all of her friends looking at her with smiles on their faces. Even Mikasa was smiling. Christa had a tear in her eye. Even Ymir was glad to see her on her feet. Yoni hobbled down the castle steps towards her friends. Everyone's smiles dimmed a little at this sight. Mikasa quickly switched into mom mode.

"Yoni shouldn't you be lying down." Mikasa walked briskly up to her side.

Eren interrupted before she could answer. "Oi Mikasa give her a break. I'm sure walking with a cane beats laying in a bed all day."

Armin also interjected. "I'm sure that's not permanent. Once she's fully recovered she should walk fine."

"She can recover faster if she's resting" Mikasa stated.

The three of them went on like that for a little. Yoni could only smile and her life long friends bickering over her. Her eyes wandered across all her friends until they landed on Christa. Christa still had a faint smile on her face as she looked at Yoni. When their eyes met, it was as if they remembered everything that happened between them. The almost kiss, what Yoni said during the 57th expedition, and their respective thoughts about each other. Christa's smile turned into a flustered blush. Yoni quickly averted her eyes and turned back to her arguing friends. Ymir didn't miss a second of that awkward encounter. She was boiling with anger but hid it well.

Trying to take her mind off what just happened Yoni decided she should ask some questions.

"What happened at Stohess?"

With that question, the bickering stopped, and a long silence ensued. Their faces drooped.

"It was Annie," Armin stated.

"What was Annie?" Yoni was utterly confused.

Before they could answer Hange pulled her away. "Come on Yoni, try this medicine I made for you."

Her friends could only watch as she was carried away by the mad scientist.

The Infirmary

"Annie was the female titan?!"

Hange gripped her jaw to pry it open. Making it ready to test out her new medicine. "She still is the female titan. Before we could deal with her the enclosed herself in a crystal, that even the corps of engineers can't break."

Yoni's mind wandered to Hannes. She missed her godfather. _I should take some leave and go see him. _

Hange pulled out a vial of blue liquid. She poured a generous amount of it in Yoni's mouth. Yoni immediately recoiled. The taste was horrible. Hange closed her nose and covered her mouth, making swallowing the only action possible.

"This will probably make you a little drowsy so head straight to your room." Hange placed the vial back into her desk drawer.

Yoni managed to ask a question between her dry heaves. "How long do I have to take that?"

"Well you've recovered well on your own, so it shouldn't be much longer. It should regulate your iron levels so you need to take it daily. Come here at this time tomorrow. Now off to bed."

Yoni wobbled to her room, fully utilizing the cane. The medicine was acting fast, she could feel her eyes getting a little heavy. Up the stairs and around the corridor, her bedroom door was finally insight. _Home sweet home._

Her door was slightly ajar_. Who's in here_? She double-checked that this was her room and went inside. A blonde girl was sitting on her bed.

"Yoni I think we need to talk about some stuff."

Yoni felt like her heart just stopped beating. Christa's blue eyes poured into hers relentlessly as she sat down on the bed. "Yeah, there's a lot to talk about huh?"

"So, about what you said during the 57th expedition."

"I was delirious and I thought I was going to die…which isn't to say I didn't mean it but…" Yoni gripped to the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry if I said anything that made you feel weird."

"It's not like I don't feel the same!" Christa quickly reassured. "It's just that things are complicated. I still have feelings for Ymir. Is that ok?"

Yoni rolled her eyes. she's been in this situation already and she didn't want the be here again.

Christa saw her reaction. "It doesn't seem like you're ok with that."

"No, I'm not ok with that." Christa never took advantage of Yoni's kindness so this situation was new to Yoni. "You know what I went through with Mikasa, and now you're doing the same thing. I think that's kinda shitty Christa."

Christa was taken aback. Yoni had never spoken to her like that. Christa decided to match Yoni's energy.

"Well, I feel like you put yourself in these situations Yoni. This the second time you went after someone who clearly had feelings for someone else."

"Of course I would purposely fall in love with unavailable people. I just love all the heartache and sleepless nights." Yoni's voice became raised. "Trust me, if I could choose anyone else I would. Save me a lot of trouble."

Christa stood up in anger. "So what? You wish you didn't have feelings for me anymore?"

"What do care Christa, you love someone else. You should go find her, I'm sure she's off killing innocent animals somewhere."

"That fact that you say that shows you know nothing about Ymir at all."

"Well I get all my information from your complaints, so that's your fault."

"Ugh, you're infuriating. Not everything is as black and white as you think it is."

"Actually in this instance, it is. Just choose."

"Why would you make me do that?"

"Cause it's selfish not too," Yoni stated. "It's not fair to me or Ymir."

"If I asked you to choose between me or Mikasa would you be able to do it?" Christa thought she had her stumped.

"Yes, I'd choose you in a heartbeat." Yoni looked deep into Christa's eyes. As deeply as she could from a distance. "I wish that wasn't the case but that's how it is."

Christa was at a loss for words. She had nothing to say back to her.

"Look, Christa, this medicine Hange gave me makes me really tired. I can't do this right now."

"Well, when can we talk about this?"

"We talked about it enough. I said what I needed to say. The ball's in your court now. Goodnight."

Yoni laid down facing away from Christa indicating it was time for her to leave. Footsteps that could be easily identified as Hange's came around the corridor. Yoni and Christa came to attention as she opened the door.

"Oh great both of you are here." Hange pushed her glass back up on her nose. "Starting tomorrow Yoni will be undergoing physical training. We have an upcoming expedition and we need her in top form."

"What does that have to do with me?" Christa asked.

"Well, we need someone to help her. Some senior officers are going to be away, for a little investigating the hole in the wall situation, I included. I decided you were best for the job, you guys have a good rapport."

"But I…"

"Sorry I don't have time, I have to get ready for departure. Report to the training room at seven tomorrow morning, I have the workouts written up and everything." With that, she was gone.

Yoni fastened herself under the covers. " How unfortunate."

"Shut the hell up Yoni." Christa left the room trying to figure out how she was going to get through the next few weeks.


	18. From NB

"Ow! Christa, not so rough." Yoni yelped.

"I have to be rough or else you won't finish."

"But it hurts."

"Stop being such a cry baby, Yoni." Christa stretched Yoni's leg further, thus stopping any further conversation. "Today is our last session, we should end on a high note."

"Are you happy? You'll finally be free of me after today."

"Whatever Yoni." Christa stopped stretching Yoni and stood up. "Next on the program is deadlifts. To work on your lower back injuries"

"My back feels a lot better. I can walk fine too."

"Annie basically dislocated your spine when you were playing tug-a-war with her. Hange wants to make sure that you're all healed up, so can you just do what I say?"

"Yes, ma'am." "How much weight do I put on?"

"Hange said to put a lightweight on, just to get some blood into the area so it can heal better."

"I already told you I'm fine. I've made a lot of progress in the one week we've been training."

Christa gave Yoni a look that told her if she kept talking she would need to be in rehab for an extra week. Yoni took the hint and loaded up the bar.

"It says to do four sets of fifteen, then we're done," Christa said.

Yoni went to work. She lifted up the bar effortlessly. Her reps were smooth and powerful. Christa was somewhat impressed. She couldn't lift up that much weight and move it that easily.

She breezed through her sets easily.

"That was the last thing right?" Yoni gave her lower back a good stretch. "I'm going back to my room."

Christa stood up. "Do you need help walking back?"

"No." Yoni said abruptly.

"Why are you acting like this Yoni?" Christa had had enough of Yoni's cold behavior towards her.

Yoni stopped herself at the door and turned around. "Christa I said I was done talking about this."

"Yeah, you said that but that doesn't give you the right to treat me like this."

"Like what?"

"Like you hate me."

"Well, how am I supposed to act around you, Christa? I don't know. We're not together and we don't act like friends anymore. You haven't made your choice yet so… I have no idea how to act around you."

Christa had nothing to say.

Yoni turned to face her. "Once you make your choice, I'll know how to act.

"You were able to remain friends with Mikasa. Why can't you do the same here?"

"Not everything is black and white, Christa. Your words, not mine." The irony hung in the room. Yoni turned to leave. "Thank you for the offer, but I can get back myself."

"Ymir."

"What?"

"I choose Ymir."

Yoni didn't turn to face her. She didn't want Christa to see her tears. "Well, I guess I know how to act now. Thank you for everything Christa." She hid the pain in her voice well. The door closed and she let out a breath. Her eyes were blurry from tears. _I'm always the second choice._ Her mind was racing as she walked back to her room, she didn't notice anything that was happening in front of her.

CRASH!

"Ow!" Yoni rubbed her shoulder. She cleared her teary eyes and saw a messenger bag emptied of its contents and a scout who she never learned the name of. She bent down to help him clean up the mess. "Why are you in such a hurry."

"There are some important parcels in here, the need to be delivered urgently." He began cleaning up the mess frantically.

Yoni picked up a letter and read the postage in her head. _From N.B. Is that…? Could it be? _

Yoni glanced up at the crazy messenger. He hadn't noticed her pick up the letter, and he didn't notice when she slid it into her back pocket.

They cleaned up the rest of the mess and the messenger went on his way. Yoni raced back to her room and locked the door. She wasted no time in opening the letter.

The Letter Read:

Dear Yoni,

I Love you so much. I'm so proud to call you my daughter. I wish I could be there with you. I've been hearing scary things. Don't let them use as some weapon, you're a person first. I bet you've grown so tall now. I hope you've been getting these letters, I finally got clearance to speak to you. There's so much I want to tell you, teach you, but I'm restricted to a certain number of words. Our heritage is rich and dense. I can't explain it all in a letter. Hopefully, I can see you one day again.

I love you more than anything,

From N.B

Tears plopped onto the letter. Dad? After the initial shock subsided, she began to think clearly. _Wait, there are other letters that he sent me? Why haven't I received them? Who is this addressed too?_ Yoni everywhere for a recipient in the letter. _Why didn't he tell me where he is so I can go see him?_ Yoni took a few deep breathes to calm herself down. I need to tell Armin, Mikasa, and Eren. My father is alive. A huge smile washed over Yoni's face.

She hopped off the bed and tore open the door. There was a figure blocking her.

"Nanaba nee-san."

"Hey, Yoni. What's wrong? Have you been crying?"

"No, well yes, but its good news."

"What's the good news?"

"Tou san is alive! He sent me a letter nee-san!"

Nanaba's face went cold. Her left eye twitched. She snatched the letter from Yoni's hand. "Was this addressed to you?"

"I found by accident and suspected it could be him." Yoni was confused. Why did Nanaba look upset? "What's wrong nee-san? I just told you great news."

As if she realized her blunder, she immediately cheered up. "You're right I'm going to tell the others."

With that, she was off. With the letter.

A lot of thoughts were running rough Yoni's mind however, ones took out the most. _Nanaba is hiding something._


	19. A Sense of Urgency

Yoni ran to Mikasa's room with a sense of urgency. She thanked God that the three of them were in there already.

Armin was the first to notice her in the doorway. "Yoni? What are you doing here? I thought you had had rehab today."

"Today was my last session." Yoni shut the door behind her and checked outside the window for any eavesdroppers.

"What's the matter with you Yoni?" Mikasa asked.

"I need to tell you guys something very important." Yoni stood in front of her friends, dripping with sweat and paranoia. "My father is alive."

Yoni told them everything.

"Yoni are sure about this?" Armin was being his usual skeptical self.

"What more evidence do you need Armin? I told you what happened with Nanaba."

"I do believe you Yoni, but we need more evidence. Just because she acted unusually isn't enough evidence to tell the Scout Commander. We don't even have the letter."

This made Yoni see reason. "So what do we do?"

"We need more evidence," Eren said.

"How are we going to do that?" Yoni asked.

"Yoni, you said that there are more letters. We should search for them in Nanaba's room." Mikasa suggested.

They all nodded in agreement.

"Well, when I just met her, she said she was going to go tell the rest of team Mike." Yoni said.

"I knew those people weren't to be trusted," Mikasa yelled. "They disappear for years then magically reappear out of nowhere."

"Mikasa I knew these people way before I met you guys, they were like family to me." Yoni lowered her head. "I know it seemed weird to outsiders, but being with them felt right. I felt like I could trust them, it felt what I have with you guys."

"Well, now they show their true colors." Mikasa wasn't convinced.

"We don't know if the others are involved," Eren said.

"Yoni just said the Nanaba went to tell the others." Mikasa tried to keep her voice low despite her anger. "Why would she do that if they weren't in on it?

No one had an answer for her.

"Well it's decided, let go." Mikasa led everyone out of the room and in the direction of Nanaba's room.

They arrived at the door. Yoni knocked, just in case Nanaba had made it back before them. No one answered. They understood that as an invitation to go in. She turned the handle.

"It's locked," Yoni said. "What do we do now?"

"Does anyone know how to pick a lock?" Armin asked.

"I used to awhile ago, but I don't think I can still do it." Eren said.

"Ugh, step aside." Mikasa grabbed the handle and broke it off the door. "Stop making things so difficult."

"Mikasa!" Armin tensed up. "Now Nanba will know that somebody was here."

"I can do that too." Eren muttered to himself.

"Relax Armin, she would have known anyway. She's a very calculating woman, she will know if anything had been messed with."

"But now there is actual evidence!"

"Yes, but it doesn't tie us to the scene." Mikasa walked inside and looked around. "Now shut up and help look for clues."

They tore through Nanba's room, but they made sure to put everything back in its original place. They had to hurry, Nanaba could show up at any time. They searched and searched but came up empty-handed. Yoni was frustrated. She plopped down on the floor, leaning against the cobblestone wall.

"Agh! Where are they?" Yoni hung her head low. "They should be here."

The others looked at their friend. She had been through a lot in the past month. She'd been in a coma for most of it. There was a possibility she wasn't thinking clearly.

"Look, Yoni." Armin squatted down next to her. "Are you sure you read that there were more letters"

"Yes, Armin." Yoni looked annoyed. "Why would I make that up."

"I'm not saying you made it up, but maybe you misread something."

Yoni's blood boiled as she slammed her fist against the cobblestone wall. "I'm telling the truth!"

Armin looked petrified. Yoni almost never got angry. "Ok, we'll keep looking."

Yoni lifted her hand off the wall and felt the stone shift a little. She gripped the stone and wiggled it. "Guys I think I found something."

They shuffled over to see Yoni pulling a cobblestone out the wall to a small compartment filled to the brim with letters. Yoni pulled them out and sorted through them. They weren't dated so she found the oldest looking paper and opened it.

The Letter read:

Yoni,

I'm sorry I left so suddenly. This mission was ordered by the top brass, so I couldn't waive it. I don't know why I'm telling you this, you can't even read. Stick close to Mike, Carla, and Hannes. They'll take care of you while I'm gone. Make sure to make friends so you won't be lonely. I won't see you for a while, but you look exactly like your mother so that gives me peace of mind. I'll have some idea of how you're turning out. You won't be completely unknown to me. I love you more than anything.

From NB

Yoni ran her fingers across the page. She could feel little dents on the page, signifying where her father's tears dropped. Yoni allowed tears of her own to fall down her face.

_He's been sending me letters since I was a kid. He's been sending me letters since I was a kid, and she knew about it. She knew he was alive. All that talk about being family, bullshit. Nanaba is lying to me._

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren watched as their friend's face went sad and teary-eyed to fiercely angry and teary-eyed. She stood up with a force and marched towards the door. Eren stepped in her path.

"Yoni what's wrong?"

Yoni shoved him out of the way so hard he had to stop himself from falling over.

"I'm going to kill her." Yoni stated plainly, however you could hear the determination in her voice.

"Yoni stop" Armin tried to reason with her. "Yoni there's no way you can kill her."

Yoni turned around abruptly. "Watch me."

"What are you guys doing in here?" Squad captain Mike asked as he walked into the room.

Yoni saw red. She charged forward and punched him as hard as she could right in the gut. Mike keeled over in pain, hardly breathing.

Yoni wasted no time and began her questioning. "Did you know he was alive?"

"Who?" Mike croaked.

"My father, Aniki!" Yoni threw the letter in his face. "Or should I even call you that?"

Mike picked up the letter of the floor and read it in its entirety. Shock exploded on his face. His eyes became red from tears. "Nolan is alive?"

"Did you know!" Yoni persisted.

"Yoni I swear I had no idea." Mike wobbled as he stood up. "Where did you get this."

Yoni pointed to the hole in the wall.

_Wait, it was in Nanaba's room? _With that thought, everything in Mike's head came together. Everything made sense now.

"What's wrong Aniki?"

"We need to get you out of here Yoni, fast." Mike grabbed her hand and ran to the door. Before they could make it out the door the castle bell rang in a particular rhythm. A rhythm that everyone dreaded.

Titans had been spotted in the area.


End file.
